55,463 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Bought by Manhattan West Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Manhattan West Asset Management acquired 55,463 Microsoft shares worth approximately $20.7 million, making Microsoft its seventh-largest holding and about 3.5% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: 41 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $581.24, despite some recent downgrades.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, supported by continued Azure and AI momentum. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, while insiders—including CEO Satya Nadella—have sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Manhattan West Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 55,463 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $20,689,000. Microsoft accounts for about 3.5% of Manhattan West Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $60,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,000. Finally, Glynn Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34.2% in the second quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. William Blair assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Evercore upgraded Microsoft from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $581.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled its Maia 300 custom AI accelerator, designed for multi-gigawatt deployment across Azure data centers. Management says it can deliver 40% more tokens per megawatt than a GPU-based system, potentially lowering inference costs and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD hardware. What Could Microsoft Gain From Its Maia 300 AI Chip Rollout?
• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism remains focused on Azure growth, Microsoft’s AI backlog, and more than $130 billion in reported data-center leases. The scale of commitments supports long-term demand for Azure and Copilot, although it also raises capital-spending risks. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects the upcoming fiscal first-quarter report to show improving differentiation in software. Earnings are scheduled for October 28. Microsoft Price Target Raised by Barclays
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure chief reportedly seeks at least 20% cost cuts in an effort to offset soaring AI data-center expenses. The move could improve efficiency and margins, but it also highlights pressure from the company’s aggressive investment cycle. Microsoft Weighs 20% Cost Cuts in Azure
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is introducing new AI-enabled Surface devices and an Xbox Nano Controller, supporting its broader push to put generative AI into consumer hardware. These products are strategically relevant but are unlikely to materially affect near-term results.
• Negative Sentiment: Hot inflation data pushed bond yields higher and triggered a broad selloff in AI-related shares, increasing concern that expensive AI infrastructure projects may face higher financing costs and tougher valuation scrutiny.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to “hold,” while Erste Group made a minor reduction to its FY2028 earnings forecast. These actions add to near-term caution following the stock’s strong run.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares worth approximately $4.0 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance and represents only 1.3% of her holdings, it is a limited bearish signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft issued security updates addressing more than 1,400 vulnerabilities could renew concerns about cybersecurity exposure, though patching the flaws is ultimately protective.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $533.69 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.72, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $504.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $438.68.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft's productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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