Kimelman & Baird LLC Acquires New Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased 117,806 Microsoft shares worth approximately $43.9 million, making MSFT its 17th-largest holding and 2.4% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 43 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $592.15 price target. Jefferies, TD Cowen and Barclays recently raised their targets.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. However, investors remain focused on whether Azure growth can justify the company’s significant AI infrastructure spending.

Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 117,806 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $43,944,000. Microsoft comprises about 2.4% of Kimelman & Baird LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,338,370,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $18,306,443,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $6,928,664,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $5,653,812,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $4,000,706,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm'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 approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $512.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Forty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $592.15.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI diagnostic system reportedly diagnosed complex medical cases more than twice as often as generalist physicians in a simulation published in Science. The result supports the company’s ambitions in healthcare and “medical superintelligence.” Microsoft AI medical diagnostic study
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted strong underlying cloud momentum: Azure annual revenue has surpassed $100 billion, cloud-services growth reached 43%, and Microsoft’s commercial backlog rose to approximately $678 billion. These trends could support the investment case if the company demonstrates continued acceleration in its upcoming earnings report. Microsoft cloud demand and backlog
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella said Microsoft is reorganizing around AI agents, broader model choice and lower-cost computing. The strategy could expand Copilot and Azure adoption across business workflows. Microsoft AI agent strategy
• Positive Sentiment: A strategic collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim will pursue AI-backed clinical development and digital patient twins, providing another potential application for Microsoft’s cloud and AI platforms. Microsoft and Boehringer Ingelheim partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on next week’s fiscal first-quarter earnings report. Analysts expect double-digit earnings growth, but the market increasingly wants evidence that Azure growth can keep pace with rivals and justify Microsoft’s substantial AI infrastructure investments. Microsoft earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s large AI capital expenditures remain a key valuation risk. While spending may create a long-term competitive moat, investors are concerned that data-center and infrastructure costs could pressure near-term returns, especially amid higher interest rates and market volatility. Microsoft AI spending and investment risk
• Negative Sentiment: Xbox announced pricing for cloud streaming of games users already own, prompting concerns about consumer reaction and pressure on Microsoft’s gaming business. Xbox cloud gaming pricing
• Negative Sentiment: Former CEO Bill Gates warned that AI could bring roughly two decades of disruption, reinforcing investor concerns about an AI investment bubble and the potential for expensive projects to produce uncertain returns. Bill Gates AI disruption comments

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2%

MSFT stock opened at $521.08 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $507.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $445.62. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

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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