Arbiter Partners Capital Management LLC Invests $740,000 in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Arbiter Partners initiated a $740,000 Microsoft position by purchasing 2,000 shares in the first quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft, with several other firms also increasing their stakes.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, posting $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, up 17.7% year over year and above analyst estimates. Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $558.87 price target.
• AI-driven growth remains balanced by risks, including heavy data-center spending, potential margin pressure, customer concentration and recent insider selling. Microsoft also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, yielding approximately 0.7%.

Arbiter Partners Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,000 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $740,000. Microsoft makes up 0.4% of Arbiter Partners Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its stake in Microsoft by 19.7% in the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 971,990 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $359,802,000 after acquiring an additional 159,660 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Sun Financial Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 10.5% during the first quarter. Pacific Sun Financial Corp now owns 5,487 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,031,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at about $38,614,000. Mathes Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% in the first quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 13,699 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,071,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HORAN Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 102.2% during the 1st quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 87,978 shares of the software giant's stock worth $34,378,000 after acquiring an additional 44,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its Microsoft price target to $600. The upgrade follows Microsoft’s quarterly Azure performance, with analysts highlighting the 43% cloud-revenue increase and stronger-than-expected earnings as evidence that AI demand is translating into accelerating cloud growth. Citi Raises Microsoft Stock Target to $600
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom AI chips may improve cloud economics. CEO Satya Nadella said the company’s internally developed chips can deliver efficiency gains of up to 40%. Better cost and energy efficiency could help Microsoft support AI workloads while protecting Azure margins. Microsoft Custom AI Chips Improve Efficiency
• Positive Sentiment: Azure is expanding in India. Microsoft opened a major Hyderabad data-center region and is committing approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian cloud and AI operations. Early customers include Adani Group and HDFC Bank, supporting the case for long-term international Azure growth. Microsoft Opens Largest India Data Center Hub
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and institutional support remain strong. Microsoft recently exceeded quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, while Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square holds a reported $2.4 billion MSFT position. Scotiabank also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate and maintained an Outperform rating. Bill Ackman Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: AI demand is powerful but concentrated. Reports suggest OpenAI may account for a substantial portion of Microsoft’s AI sales, creating both a major growth engine and customer-concentration risk. Microsoft’s large AI backlog also does not guarantee equivalent future profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Spending, margins and valuation remain concerns. Rising data-center capital expenditures and lower cloud gross margins could pressure cash flow if AI infrastructure costs grow faster than revenue. After the sharp post-earnings rally, the stock is also more vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing guidance.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sales and securities litigation add headline risk. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares for roughly $4.9 million, and multiple law firms are publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These developments do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on near-term sentiment.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $499.99 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50 day moving average is $404.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $406.96. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business 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%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. New Street Research dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $558.87.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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