882,491 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Bought by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Manning & Napier Advisors purchased 882,491 Microsoft shares worth approximately $329.2 million, making Microsoft its second-largest holding at 4.2% of the portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 42 Buy, four Hold and two Sell ratings; the average rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $589.71 target price. Microsoft also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue.
• Microsoft’s AI and cloud expansion remain central themes, supported by a long-term 1,100-megawatt power agreement and custom AI-chip development, though rising infrastructure costs and U.K. regulatory scrutiny pose risks. Insiders sold roughly $75.4 million of stock over the past three months.

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 882,491 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $329,187,000. Microsoft accounts for about 4.2% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.2% during the first quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Planning LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the software giant's stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,052,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $589.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% 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 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

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.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $529.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $505.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $441.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share 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 given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Microsoft Profile

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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