Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC Buys 4,117 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Cooper Creek Partners increased its Microsoft stake by 12% in the first quarter, adding 4,117 shares for a total of 38,561 shares valued at $14.27 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 42 Buy ratings and five Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $559.16, despite some firms recently lowering targets.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 17.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, or $3.64 annualized.

Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,561 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 4,117 shares during the quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. China Renaissance decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $559.16.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $503.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $407.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $407.37. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm 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 firm earned $3.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings showed stronger-than-expected profitability and revenue, with Azure growth and Copilot adoption reinforcing the view that substantial AI investment is beginning to generate returns. Hedge funds and institutional investors continue to favor Microsoft over some other mega-cap technology names. Hedge Funds Favor Microsoft Over Meta
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target to $660 and maintained an Outperform rating, arguing that Microsoft’s data-center expansion is measured, flexible, and supported by durable cloud demand. Other analysts also identified Azure growth, backlog, and institutional buying as potential catalysts for a year-end rally. Bernstein Raises Microsoft Target
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft may unveil its Maia 300 AI chip as early as September and secure production capacity for more than 300,000 units could reduce reliance on Nvidia processors, lower long-term AI costs, and support Microsoft’s cloud strategy. Microsoft Maia 300 Chip Report

Microsoft Company Profile

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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