Hilton Capital Management LLC Buys 5,657 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Hilton Capital Management increased its Microsoft stake by 7.6% in the second quarter, adding 5,657 shares to reach 79,838 shares valued at approximately $29.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.74 exceeding estimates and revenue of $90.01 billion rising 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $570.62.
• Microsoft’s AI and cloud outlook remains a major catalyst, including stronger Copilot monetization and enterprise adoption, although investors remain concerned about heavy AI infrastructure spending and potential pressure on free cash flow.

Hilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,838 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 5,657 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.0% of Hilton Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Hilton Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial increased its stake in Microsoft by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Sequent Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,052,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. American Investment Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the first quarter. American Investment Services Inc. now owns 876 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the software giant's stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $610 from $550 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing improving estimates for Microsoft’s commercial cloud business and potential revenue from the new E7 enterprise licensing tier. Why is Microsoft stock up on Wednesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s revamped Copilot is becoming more enterprise-focused, while usage-based billing expected to begin in November could simplify adoption and improve monetization. Analysts also see potential for paid Copilot seats to continue expanding rapidly. What a Revamped Copilot Means for Microsoft Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is bringing OpenAI’s autonomous “Dots” agents into its enterprise security and governance framework, strengthening its position in workplace AI. A long-term Xbox publishing agreement with Take-Two also supports the gaming ecosystem. Microsoft Brings OpenAI’s Autonomous Dots AI Workers Into the Enterprise
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft has delivered a substantial quarterly rally, but its valuation remains below its recent average P/E despite strong Azure growth, expanding Copilot demand and a sizable commercial backlog. This leaves room for additional upside, although expectations are already elevated. How Much Upside Is Left In Microsoft Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that surging AI infrastructure spending could outpace free cash flow before Azure and Copilot returns fully materialize. Microsoft also warns that AI agents may weaken traditional software pricing power and customer loyalty. The AI Revolution Could Be Microsoft’s Next Trillion-Dollar Opportunity

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $512.90 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $484.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.53. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business 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 business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal 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. 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 0.8%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Raymond James Financial cut Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price objective on Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 21st. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $570.62.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president 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 have sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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