EMC Capital Management Buys Shares of 1,958 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• EMC Capital Management initiated a Microsoft position by purchasing 1,958 shares valued at approximately $782,000, making Microsoft 0.3% of its portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, up 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with 42 Buy ratings and an average price target of $564.27.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share, while insiders—including CEO Satya Nadella—sold shares totaling $71.4 million over the past 90 days.

EMC Capital Management bought a new position 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 fund bought 1,958 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $782,000. Microsoft comprises about 0.3% of EMC Capital Management's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 64,375,360 shares of the software giant's stock worth $24,013,297,000 after purchasing an additional 543,172 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $18,306,443,000. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Microsoft by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure and AI businesses remain the primary bullish catalysts. Analysts point to accelerating cloud growth, broad enterprise adoption and Microsoft’s distribution advantage through Azure, Microsoft 365 and Copilot. These Magnificent Seven Members Still Look Cheap
• Positive Sentiment: Causaly expanded its collaboration with Microsoft, making its agentic scientific-research tools available within Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365 and Teams. The deal supports Microsoft’s strategy of adding specialized AI workflows to its enterprise software ecosystem. Causaly is Now Available in Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s 8% quarterly dividend increase reinforces its strong cash generation and provides shareholder support, although the company continues to invest heavily in cloud and AI infrastructure. Microsoft Slips as Its Quarterly Dividend Climbs 8%
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman called recent reports of concerning model behavior at OpenAI a “serious situation” and emphasized the need for controllable, human-aligned AI. The comments highlight Microsoft’s safety focus but also underscore reputational and product-liability risks across the sector. OpenAI's latest AI revelation is a serious situation
• Negative Sentiment: Unsealed filings reportedly include Microsoft and OpenAI employees’ concerns that AI training on millions of news articles could amount to the “largest theft of labor in human history.” The disclosures may weaken the companies’ fair-use defense and increase potential litigation, licensing and regulatory costs. OpenAI, Microsoft executives' quotes on AI training threaten copyright defense
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of insider selling added to near-term sentiment pressure, while Microsoft faces competitive challenges from Salesforce’s AIforce and ongoing debate over whether its substantial AI spending will generate adequate returns. Microsoft Trading Down After Insider Selling

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% 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 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Argus cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $564.27.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $493.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $466.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $422.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 21.83%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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