Hopwood Nicholas Hunter Makes New $1 Million Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Hopwood Nicholas Hunter purchased 2,691 Microsoft shares in the second quarter, representing an investment of approximately $1.004 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $4.89 per share and revenue of $92.28 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue up 18.8% year over year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, or $3.92 annually, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $609.54.

Hopwood Nicholas Hunter purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,691 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,004,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 64,375,360 shares of the software giant's stock worth $24,013,297,000 after acquiring an additional 543,172 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $18,306,443,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after acquiring an additional 9,814,598 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,852,884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

Microsoft stock opened at $530.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $512.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $438.21. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $551.15. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.13 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Microsoft from $662.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane cut Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Wolfe Research downgraded Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Forty-five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.54.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported fiscal Q1 revenue of $92.28 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.89 per share, exceeding analyst estimates. Revenue grew 18.8% year over year, while Azure revenue surged 48% to approximately $33.2 billion, reinforcing the company’s position as a leading beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption. Microsoft beats quarterly cloud revenue estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cloud growth, a $677 billion commercial backlog and expanding Copilot and AI-agent adoption have prompted several analysts to raise their price targets, including Citigroup’s $680 target and RBC’s $640 target. Microsoft stock slips despite strong Azure growth
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft generated approximately $18.6 billion in free cash flow, giving it substantially more flexibility than some rivals to fund AI investments without relying exclusively on debt. Analysts argue that the spending should be judged against the company’s cash generation and monetization potential. Microsoft Q1 capex and free cash flow
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is broadening Copilot distribution through education and finance-workflow integrations, while its AI-agent governance tools are attracting interest from major developers. These moves support the case for multiple long-term AI revenue streams. Microsoft expands Copilot in education
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft plans to issue as much as $25 billion in bonds, its first major U.S. bond sale since 2017, to support data-center and AI investment. Strong demand for the offering highlights investor confidence, but the borrowing also focuses attention on the scale of future capital requirements. Microsoft expects to raise $25 billion in bond sale
• Negative Sentiment: Capital expenditures came in below expectations, and Microsoft reduced its forecast to roughly $170 billion from $175 billion. Management attributed the shortfall to third-party chip and data-center capacity delays, but investors remain concerned that elevated spending may pressure returns and margins. AI buildout capex estimates
• Negative Sentiment: About $10 billion of quarterly revenue was tied to commercial arrangements with OpenAI, or nearly 11% of total revenue, increasing concentration and counterparty-risk concerns as the companies increasingly compete in AI services. Microsoft recorded $10 billion in revenue from OpenAI

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company's principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.

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