Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Norris Perne & French LLP MI's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Norris Perne & French LLP MI slightly reduced its Microsoft stake by 1.1% in the second quarter, but Microsoft remains the firm’s second-largest holding at 177,461 shares valued at approximately $66.2 million.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: 42 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy and five rate it Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $564.27, despite several recent target reductions.
• Microsoft’s strong operating performance is balanced by AI-spending concerns. Quarterly revenue rose 17.7% year over year and Azure growth accelerated, while elevated data-center investment, execution risks and insider selling remain potential headwinds; the company also raised its quarterly dividend 8% to $0.98 per share.

Norris Perne & French LLP MI lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,461 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,951 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.9% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Norris Perne & French LLP MI's holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Novem Group boosted its position in Microsoft by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Novem Group now owns 17,333 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares in the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,129 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 76,246 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,441,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. CV Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.9% in the second quarter. CV Advisors LLC now owns 44,774 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,702,000 after acquiring an additional 8,644 shares during the period. Finally, Summitry LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 221,816 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $82,742,000 after buying an additional 7,354 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $564.27.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend raised 8%: Microsoft increased its quarterly payout from $0.91 to $0.98 per share, payable December 10 to shareholders of record November 19. The increase signals confidence in cash generation and brings the annualized yield to approximately 0.8%, while the payout ratio remains near 20%. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend increase
• Positive Sentiment: Azure momentum remains a key catalyst: Azure revenue growth accelerated to 43% year over year in the latest quarter, with management expecting another acceleration. Azure has also surpassed $100 billion in annual sales, reinforcing the investment case for Microsoft’s cloud and agentic-AI strategy. Microsoft Azure agentic AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise AI ecosystem is expanding: Dun & Bradstreet is integrating its commercial data graph with Microsoft Copilot Studio and Dynamics 365 agents, potentially supporting broader enterprise adoption of Microsoft’s AI tools. Dun and Bradstreet Microsoft Copilot integration
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming product and reporting updates: Microsoft’s October 7 Windows and Surface event could provide a hardware and on-device AI catalyst. Separately, plans to disclose Azure revenue should give investors greater visibility into whether AI spending is translating into sales. Microsoft Windows and Surface event
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is the main overhang: Microsoft is reportedly targeting roughly 38 gigawatts of data-center capacity by 2032, while capital expenditures are already elevated and expected to rise again. Investors are concerned that returns from AI infrastructure may take time to materialize. Microsoft AI spending analysis
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution concerns persist: Federal agencies can begin contracting for Microsoft’s new AI government tier on October 1, but some features may not be available immediately. The gap between commitments and delivery could slow adoption or raise questions about execution. Microsoft government AI tier
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a modest headwind: EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares worth approximately $20.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the transaction was scheduled in advance, it is not necessarily a bearish signal, but it may weigh marginally on sentiment.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

MSFT opened at $490.30 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $462.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $421.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. 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. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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