Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL Buys New Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Birmingham Capital Management bought 1,539 Microsoft shares worth approximately $574,000 during the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, beating analyst expectations, with revenue rising 17.7% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98, or $3.92 annually.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 43 Buy ratings and an average price target of $592.15, though regulatory scrutiny, high AI infrastructure spending, data-center constraints and recent insider selling remain risks.

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,539 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $38,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $60,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $531.87 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $506.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $443.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 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 forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Forty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $592.15.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism and earnings expectations: BMO Capital raised its Microsoft price target to $600 while maintaining an Outperform rating, citing potential upside for Azure. Bernstein also reiterated Outperform and lifted its target to $662. Analysts expect Microsoft’s Oct. 28 results to benefit from Azure demand and expanding enterprise AI adoption. Boeing and Microsoft AI platform article
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud growth remain the core bull case: Commentary points to robust Azure infrastructure demand, commercial customer commitments and Microsoft’s ability to monetize AI across enterprise markets. Its new Maia AI chips could eventually reduce reliance on outside processors and lower inference costs, although execution remains important. Microsoft Q1 outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Xbox and industry partnerships: Microsoft plans next-generation Xbox consoles and handheld devices for the 2027–2028 holiday seasons. Separately, its partnership with AMD is intended to improve Xbox performance, while Boeing’s new Dataliner aircraft-data platform uses Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and could support enterprise cloud adoption. Next-generation Xbox article
• Neutral Sentiment: Tokenized-stock objection: Microsoft joined Alphabet and Goldman Sachs in objecting to having its shares listed on a proposed OKX-ICE tokenized-stock platform. The move may limit potential trading exposure but does not directly affect operating results. Tokenized stocks article
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. AI data-center withdrawal: Microsoft withdrew as anchor tenant from Nscale’s planned Loughton, Essex, facility because grid-connection delays threatened the power supply. The decision highlights electricity and permitting constraints that could slow Azure capacity expansion and increase infrastructure costs. Microsoft U.K. data-center withdrawal
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and execution pressure: Britain’s competition watchdog is considering strategic-market-status rules for Microsoft’s business software, potentially increasing compliance requirements. Investors are also watching whether very large AI capital expenditures generate sufficient revenue and cash flow to justify the spending. U.K. regulation article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI-stock weakness: A selloff across AI-related equities and concerns about financing, power availability and uncertain returns are weighing on large technology stocks, including Microsoft. The company’s elevated valuation leaves less room for disappointment if Azure growth or earnings guidance falls short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.