Findlay Park Partners LLP Buys 386,430 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Findlay Park Partners LLP bought 386,430 Microsoft shares valued at approximately $144.1 million, making Microsoft about 1.9% of its portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $589.71; several firms recently raised targets, although Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 17.7% year over year, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share from $0.91.

Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 386,430 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $144,146,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Findlay Park Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $530.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 21st. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $589.71.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $539.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $504.95 and a 200-day moving average of $439.96. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $675 from $525 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing accelerating Azure and Microsoft 365 growth driven by artificial intelligence. The firm believes Microsoft’s valuation remains reasonable despite its recent rally. UBS raises Microsoft price target
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms have lifted their targets, with analysts highlighting Azure momentum, approximately 30 million Copilot seats, Microsoft’s commercial backlog and the potential for a larger-than-usual earnings beat. The October 28 results will provide an important test of whether AI spending is translating into revenue and profit.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Maia 300 custom AI accelerator is expected to scale across Azure data centers and reportedly deliver more tokens per megawatt than conventional GPU systems. The chip could reduce inference costs and Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia and AMD hardware. Microsoft Maia 300 AI chip
• Positive Sentiment: AI care-management company Tucuvi joined Microsoft’s Pegasus startup program, potentially expanding Microsoft’s enterprise AI pipeline and go-to-market reach in healthcare. Microsoft also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91, signaling continued confidence in cash generation. Tucuvi joins Microsoft Pegasus Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Azure management is seeking roughly 20% cost reductions could improve efficiency and margins, but also underscore the pressure created by Microsoft’s substantial AI data-center investments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s $10 million contribution to a White House ballroom project is unlikely to affect near-term financial results, though it could attract political or reputational scrutiny. Microsoft White House ballroom contribution
• Negative Sentiment: Higher inflation and bond yields have pressured AI valuations and raised concerns about the financing cost and returns of large infrastructure projects. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet makes it less vulnerable than smaller AI companies, but valuation sensitivity remains a risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to Hold, while reports of security vulnerabilities, executive share sales and intense competition from rapidly growing AI companies add caution. Amy Hood’s sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft's productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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