67,052 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Bought by Peak Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Peak Asset Management purchased 67,052 Microsoft shares worth approximately $25 million, making Microsoft 3.7% of its portfolio and its ninth-largest holding.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while analysts remain broadly bullish: 42 rate the stock Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $589.71 price target.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings and 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98. However, investors are monitoring heavy AI infrastructure spending, margin pressure and potential U.K. regulatory action.

Peak Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 67,052 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $25,012,000. Microsoft accounts for 3.7% of Peak Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Microsoft by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Microsoft by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,852,884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784,809 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Microsoft by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,982,083,000 after acquiring an additional 9,493,778 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,138,798 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,715,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,412 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Microsoft to remain the only major hyperscaler with positive free cash flow over the next year despite heavy AI investment. This reinforces confidence that the company can fund data-center expansion without substantial external financing. Microsoft Free Cash Flow Expected to Remain Positive
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement with NiSource for approximately 1,100 megawatts of power for an Indiana data-center campus beginning in 2028. Securing electricity supports future Azure capacity as grid constraints become a bottleneck for AI expansion. Microsoft Signs Power Deal With NiSource
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom Maia AI chips and reports that a new model achieved comparable or better performance than OpenAI’s system using a fraction of the computing power could eventually reduce reliance on expensive third-party GPUs and improve AI economics. Microsoft Wants to Make AI Cheaper
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on Azure growth, Copilot adoption, AI monetization and capital expenditures ahead of earnings. Strong demand could support the shares, but the market wants evidence that revenue growth is translating into sustainable margins.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Microsoft’s grip on business software and says Microsoft and Amazon Web Services may need to do more to address cloud-service barriers. Potential remedies could increase compliance costs or weaken customer-lock-in advantages. UK Regulator Targets Microsoft’s Business Software Grip
• Negative Sentiment: Questions remain over whether custom chips will deliver meaningful savings: AI infrastructure, power and data-center commitments are rising rapidly, while Microsoft is reportedly seeking substantial cost reductions in Azure. That creates concern about near-term free-cash-flow and margin pressure.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Evercore upgraded Microsoft from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $589.71.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $529.05 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $505.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $441.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at $302,924,086.32. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company's principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.

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