9,111 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Donaldson Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Donaldson Capital Management increased its Microsoft position by 3.3%, purchasing 9,111 shares to own 286,452 shares valued at approximately $106.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, beating estimates. Azure and AI demand remain key growth catalysts, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus and average price target of $571.18.
• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, or $3.92 annually, producing a 0.8% yield. Key risks include heavy AI infrastructure spending, valuation concerns and recent insider selling totaling $71.4 million over 90 days.

Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 286,452 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 9,111 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.1% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $106,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after acquiring an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,300,410 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,235,785,000 after acquiring an additional 458,014 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,784,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,599,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI demand remain the primary catalyst. Investor data and analyst commentary point to accelerating Azure demand, while Microsoft’s recent earnings showed its fastest cloud growth in four years. The improving demand is helping ease concerns that the company’s substantial AI infrastructure spending will not generate adequate returns. Ca$htag: MSFT Azure Cloud Drives Soaring Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo added Microsoft to its Q4 Tactical Ideas list and raised its price target to $725, citing Azure’s growth potential and the prospect of improved AI monetization through Copilot. The action adds to a series of bullish analyst revisions; one report noted that 52 analysts covering Microsoft currently have no sell ratings. With Azure as a Catalyst, Microsoft Is Positioned for Sustained Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship provides potential additional value. Investors are increasingly focused on Microsoft’s stake and commercial partnership with OpenAI, particularly ahead of a possible OpenAI initial public offering that could provide a market reference for the investment. OpenAI’s Future IPO Keeps Me Buying Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced new real-time AI speech models for customer-service agents, multilingual assistants and voice interfaces. The products broaden Microsoft’s enterprise AI offering and could support additional cloud consumption and software revenue. Microsoft Targets Contact Center Market With Real-Time AI Voice Models
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting Microsoft’s October 7 Surface and Windows event. New hardware or Windows updates could support the ecosystem, although the event has not yet produced a material earnings catalyst. Microsoft Stock Notches Up Ahead of the Surface Show
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include heavy AI capital spending, valuation concerns and broader market concentration. Critics argue that rising data-center capacity could pressure compute pricing and returns, while strategists warn that a market correction could disproportionately affect megacap technology stocks. Microsoft’s dividend remains affordable, but AI infrastructure spending and lease commitments could limit future dividend growth. Morgan Stanley Strategist Sees Market Drawdown Potential

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $530.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $571.18.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $517.53 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $490.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $429.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 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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