Excalibur Management Corp Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Excalibur Management increased its Microsoft stake by 11.7% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 28,594 shares valued at approximately $10.7 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, surpassing analyst expectations; revenue rose 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, an annualized yield of approximately 0.8%.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 43 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $569.29, but investors are monitoring heavy AI infrastructure spending, capacity constraints, margin pressure and recent insider selling.

Excalibur Management Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,594 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,986 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.5% of Excalibur Management Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Excalibur Management Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.0% in the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock worth $85,604,000 after buying an additional 8,773 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 8.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after acquiring an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 138.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $502,077,000 after acquiring an additional 788,297 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $516.17 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $477.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $426.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled a redesigned Copilot “super app” that combines access to Office applications with coding tools, autonomous AI agents and an Autopilot feature. The initiative is aimed primarily at business users and could improve enterprise adoption, usage and monetization of Microsoft’s AI offerings. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its Microsoft price target to $570, citing the company’s shift toward enterprise AI agents and a billing model tied more closely to customer usage. Other recent analyst targets have also moved higher, reinforcing expectations for sustained Azure and AI growth. Oppenheimer target article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors appear more confident that Microsoft can benefit from AI without depending on a single large-model provider. Its Azure cloud platform, Microsoft 365 ecosystem and enterprise distribution provide multiple avenues for converting AI investment into recurring revenue. MarketWatch article
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy bullish options activity, including a large call spread, suggests traders are positioning for additional upside. Technical analysts identified a potential move toward approximately $555, although this is market positioning rather than a fundamental forecast. Barchart options article
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market gains, led by AI stocks, provided an additional tailwind. However, elevated oil prices, Treasury yields and uncertainty over potential Federal Reserve policy changes remain important macroeconomic risks.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is moving away from a consumer-focused personal-assistant strategy and concentrating Copilot on workplace use. The usage-based approach could unlock greater revenue, but it may also make sales less predictable than traditional subscriptions if customer adoption is slower than expected. Financial Post article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to monitor Microsoft’s substantial AI infrastructure spending, data-center capacity constraints and a reported 277-job reduction in Washington. These factors could pressure near-term margins even as Azure demand remains strong.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 21st. Argus cut their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, CLSA reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $569.29.

Microsoft Company Profile

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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