97,505 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Palisade Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Palisade Capital Management acquired 97,505 Microsoft shares worth approximately $36.4 million, making Microsoft 1.6% of its portfolio and its eighth-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 43 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $590.30; TD Cowen recently raised its target to $625.
• Microsoft’s AI strategy remains central to the investment case, though heavy capital spending and infrastructure constraints could pressure margins and free cash flow if Azure monetization does not accelerate. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.

Palisade Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 97,505 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $36,371,000. Microsoft comprises 1.6% of Palisade Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock worth $85,604,000 after purchasing an additional 8,773 shares in the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,652,000. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after purchasing an additional 537,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taylor Securities Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,616,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 12th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $590.30.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft received a bullish signal ahead of its Oct. 28 earnings report after Bernstein raised its price target to $662 and maintained an “Outperform” rating. Investors are watching Azure growth, commercial remaining performance obligations, and whether Microsoft’s more than $115 billion in recent capital spending is translating into AI revenue. Microsoft Given New Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled its Maia 300 AI accelerator and plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning next year. The chip could reduce Microsoft’s reliance on Nvidia and lower inference costs, supporting the long-term economics of its AI infrastructure strategy. Microsoft's New AI Chip Could Change the Economics of AI
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced security controls for enterprise AI agents and emphasized that frontier models can pose insider-threat-like risks. The initiative could strengthen demand for Microsoft’s security products as businesses adopt agentic AI. Microsoft Introduces Security Features for AI Agents
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Microsoft as a broad way to monetize AI through Azure, Copilot, software subscriptions, and security. Expectations call for Azure growth of roughly 45%, though capacity constraints could limit near-term upside. Microsoft Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft withdrew as anchor customer from Nscale’s planned U.K. AI data center, reportedly because of electricity-grid and power-supply delays. The decision highlights infrastructure constraints but may also reflect disciplined capital allocation; third-party operators could benefit if hyperscalers build less capacity themselves. Microsoft Pulls Out of U.K. Data Center Deal
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s aggressive AI capital expenditures could pressure free cash flow and margins if Azure monetization does not accelerate. One analyst also said Maia remains well behind Nvidia and Google’s custom chips, limiting its near-term competitive impact. Microsoft AI Bull Case and Valuation Risks

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $533.52 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $506.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $442.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a 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 is 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total value of $3,984,293.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at $302,924,086.32. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company 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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