Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Newly Acquired by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp. acquired 200,000 Microsoft shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $74.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of MSFT.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, beating analyst estimates. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $578.73.
• AI and cloud growth remain key catalysts, supported by Microsoft’s Copilot expansion and positive analyst upgrades, though investors continue to monitor execution risks, infrastructure spending and senior AI-talent departures. Insiders sold roughly $71.4 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 200,000 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $74,604,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased 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 during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $2,562,197,000 after acquiring an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% during the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $502,077,000 after purchasing an additional 788,297 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $665. The firm said rising corporate concerns about AI risks could increase demand for Microsoft’s security, governance and compliance products, while positioning Azure as a relatively dependable way to participate in the AI trend. Microsoft stock rises as Melius upgrades to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Broad market strength also supported MSFT. The Nasdaq reached a record as megacap technology stocks rallied on optimism about earnings growth, with Microsoft among the sector leaders. Expectations for strong technology-sector profits continue to support investor appetite for the shares. Nasdaq hits record as megacap gains offset elevated Treasury yields
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues expanding Copilot’s enterprise usefulness. Wood Mackenzie connected its proprietary energy data and analytics to Microsoft Copilot through a new Model Context Protocol connector, providing another example of specialized business content being integrated into Microsoft’s AI ecosystem. Wood Mackenzie connects energy intelligence with Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming Xbox and Xbox Game Pass releases provided a smaller consumer-business catalyst. New game launches may support engagement and subscription activity, although the impact is likely less significant than Azure and AI developments. Microsoft stock rises ahead of new Xbox game releases
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft and Meta reportedly encouraged employees to reduce their use of Anthropic’s Claude in favor of internal AI tools. The move could lower Microsoft’s external AI expenses and strengthen Copilot adoption, but it also indicates ongoing competition and uncertainty over which AI models will deliver the best economics. Microsoft and Meta steer staff from Anthropic Claude to in-house AI
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon hired longtime Microsoft AI executive Pedram Rezaei, formerly associated with Copilot. The departure could raise concerns about retaining senior AI talent as cloud and software rivals intensify their competition. Amazon hires a Microsoft AI leader
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on execution risks. Microsoft’s large backlog offers revenue visibility, but the timing of recognition, infrastructure spending and cash conversion could limit near-term benefits. Questions also remain about whether Copilot can become a breakout AI application. How much revenue visibility does Microsoft’s backlog provide?

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $525.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $431.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup raised Microsoft from a "market outperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $530.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $578.73.

Microsoft 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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