Heartland Bank & Trust Co Buys New Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Heartland Bank & Trust Co. initiated a Microsoft position by purchasing 29,312 shares worth approximately $10.9 million, making Microsoft 2.3% of its portfolio and its ninth-largest holding.
• Microsoft reported quarterly results above expectations, with EPS of $4.74 versus $4.24 forecast and revenue of $90.01 billion, up 17.7% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: 41 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a target price of $581.24, despite some recent downgrades and insider selling.

Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 29,312 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $10,934,000. Microsoft accounts for 2.3% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 8,773 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock worth $199,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 537,634 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $502,077,000 after purchasing an additional 788,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-one 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $581.24.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $533.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.72, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $504.15 and a 200-day moving average of $438.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. 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 issued its 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. 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 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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 Company 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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