8,143 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by S&CO Inc.

Key Points

• S&CO Inc. increased its Microsoft stake by 4.3% in the second quarter, acquiring 8,143 shares and bringing its holdings to 198,340 shares valued at approximately $74 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, up 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $578.73, despite some differing rating changes.
• Insiders have been net sellers: executives sold 143,009 shares worth approximately $71.4 million over the past 90 days. Microsoft also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, or $3.92 annually.

S&CO Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 198,340 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 8,143 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.3% of S&CO Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $73,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $85,604,000 after purchasing an additional 8,773 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock worth $199,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,562,197,000 after purchasing an additional 537,634 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in Microsoft by 138.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $502,077,000 after buying an additional 788,297 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $665. The firm said rising corporate concerns about AI risks could increase demand for Microsoft’s security, governance and compliance products, while positioning Azure as a relatively dependable way to participate in the AI trend. Microsoft stock rises as Melius upgrades to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Broad market strength also supported MSFT. The Nasdaq reached a record as megacap technology stocks rallied on optimism about earnings growth, with Microsoft among the sector leaders. Expectations for strong technology-sector profits continue to support investor appetite for the shares. Nasdaq hits record as megacap gains offset elevated Treasury yields
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues expanding Copilot’s enterprise usefulness. Wood Mackenzie connected its proprietary energy data and analytics to Microsoft Copilot through a new Model Context Protocol connector, providing another example of specialized business content being integrated into Microsoft’s AI ecosystem. Wood Mackenzie connects energy intelligence with Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming Xbox and Xbox Game Pass releases provided a smaller consumer-business catalyst. New game launches may support engagement and subscription activity, although the impact is likely less significant than Azure and AI developments. Microsoft stock rises ahead of new Xbox game releases
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft and Meta reportedly encouraged employees to reduce their use of Anthropic’s Claude in favor of internal AI tools. The move could lower Microsoft’s external AI expenses and strengthen Copilot adoption, but it also indicates ongoing competition and uncertainty over which AI models will deliver the best economics. Microsoft and Meta steer staff from Anthropic Claude to in-house AI
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon hired longtime Microsoft AI executive Pedram Rezaei, formerly associated with Copilot. The departure could raise concerns about retaining senior AI talent as cloud and software rivals intensify their competition. Amazon hires a Microsoft AI leader
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on execution risks. Microsoft’s large backlog offers revenue visibility, but the timing of recognition, infrastructure spending and cash conversion could limit near-term benefits. Questions also remain about whether Copilot can become a breakout AI application. How much revenue visibility does Microsoft’s backlog provide?

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised Microsoft from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research report on Monday. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $578.73.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5%

MSFT opened at $525.18 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $492.81 and a 200-day moving average of $431.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft'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 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. 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 currently 20.27%.

Microsoft 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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