Compass Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Compass Capital Management increased its Microsoft stake by 2.6% in the first quarter, purchasing 4,292 additional shares for a total of 171,001 shares valued at approximately $63.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.74 in earnings per share and $90.01 billion in revenue, with revenue up 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $560.27 average price target.
• Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, while company insiders sold 37,310 shares worth about $17.3 million over the past quarter.

Compass Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 171,001 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of Compass Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Compass Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $63,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, CLSA reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $495.40 on Friday. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $411.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $408.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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%.The business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to highlight Microsoft’s Azure expansion, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, and the company’s ability to sustain double-digit earnings growth. Microsoft’s latest quarter also exceeded expectations, with revenue of approximately $90 billion and earnings growth supported by Azure. Microsoft’s Cloud Gains Can Sustain Double-Digit Earnings Growth
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing stronger Copilot demand and accelerating infrastructure investment. Other analysts remain bullish, with a six-month median target near $540, reinforcing investor confidence in Microsoft’s long-term AI positioning. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified platform, potentially improving distribution, user engagement, and monetization as it competes with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Copilot Applications
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the first AI data-center deployment under its $9.7 billion agreement with IREN, supporting Azure capacity expansion. The deal improves supply visibility but also underscores Microsoft’s substantial capital requirements. IREN Delivers First AI Cloud Deployment
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s roughly $175 billion AI infrastructure spending plan could pressure free cash flow and cloud margins. A reported decline in cloud gross margin and higher data-center, chip, electricity, and labor costs raise questions about how much of the company’s large AI backlog will translate into profit. Microsoft’s AI Backlog and Profitability Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft has closed at least 15 China offices and joint ventures add geopolitical and operational uncertainty, although Azure reportedly provides a profitable reason to retain a limited China presence. Microsoft Retreats in China

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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