Gambit Capital Management LLC Makes New $1.75 Million Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Gambit Capital Management purchased 4,680 Microsoft shares worth approximately $1.75 million, making Microsoft its 14th-largest holding and about 1% of its portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 71.13%, while analysts maintain a generally positive outlook: 41 rate Microsoft a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $581.24.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 17.7% year over year, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. Executives have also sold shares recently, including a $4 million sale by EVP Amy Hood under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Gambit Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,680 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,746,000. Microsoft accounts for about 1.0% of Gambit Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $85,604,000 after buying an additional 8,773 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock worth $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 788,297 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities cut Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $581.24.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $533.69 on Thursday. 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $504.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $438.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled its Maia 300 custom AI accelerator, designed for multi-gigawatt deployment across Azure data centers. Management says it can deliver 40% more tokens per megawatt than a GPU-based system, potentially lowering inference costs and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD hardware. What Could Microsoft Gain From Its Maia 300 AI Chip Rollout?
• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism remains focused on Azure growth, Microsoft’s AI backlog, and more than $130 billion in reported data-center leases. The scale of commitments supports long-term demand for Azure and Copilot, although it also raises capital-spending risks. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects the upcoming fiscal first-quarter report to show improving differentiation in software. Earnings are scheduled for October 28. Microsoft Price Target Raised by Barclays
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure chief reportedly seeks at least 20% cost cuts in an effort to offset soaring AI data-center expenses. The move could improve efficiency and margins, but it also highlights pressure from the company’s aggressive investment cycle. Microsoft Weighs 20% Cost Cuts in Azure
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is introducing new AI-enabled Surface devices and an Xbox Nano Controller, supporting its broader push to put generative AI into consumer hardware. These products are strategically relevant but are unlikely to materially affect near-term results.
• Negative Sentiment: Hot inflation data pushed bond yields higher and triggered a broad selloff in AI-related shares, increasing concern that expensive AI infrastructure projects may face higher financing costs and tougher valuation scrutiny.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to “hold,” while Erste Group made a minor reduction to its FY2028 earnings forecast. These actions add to near-term caution following the stock’s strong run.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares worth approximately $4.0 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance and represents only 1.3% of her holdings, it is a limited bearish signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft issued security updates addressing more than 1,400 vulnerabilities could renew concerns about cybersecurity exposure, though patching the flaws is ultimately protective.

Microsoft Profile

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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