Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Newly Bought by Freestone Grove Partners LP

Key Points

• Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired 320,109 Microsoft shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $119.4 million, making Microsoft its 14th-largest holding and about 0.8% of its portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 71.13%, with several other funds also initiating or increasing Microsoft positions during the quarter.
• Wall Street maintains a positive outlook, with 43 analysts rating Microsoft a Buy and a consensus price target of $590.30; the company also exceeded recent earnings expectations and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 320,109 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $119,407,000. Microsoft makes up about 0.8% of Freestone Grove Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,253,471,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,928,000. Pointe Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 9,044 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,374,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Sonoma Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,323,000. Finally, Invst LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,723,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Forty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $590.30.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft received a bullish signal ahead of its Oct. 28 earnings report after Bernstein raised its price target to $662 and maintained an “Outperform” rating. Investors are watching Azure growth, commercial remaining performance obligations, and whether Microsoft’s more than $115 billion in recent capital spending is translating into AI revenue. Microsoft Given New Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled its Maia 300 AI accelerator and plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning next year. The chip could reduce Microsoft’s reliance on Nvidia and lower inference costs, supporting the long-term economics of its AI infrastructure strategy. Microsoft's New AI Chip Could Change the Economics of AI
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced security controls for enterprise AI agents and emphasized that frontier models can pose insider-threat-like risks. The initiative could strengthen demand for Microsoft’s security products as businesses adopt agentic AI. Microsoft Introduces Security Features for AI Agents
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Microsoft as a broad way to monetize AI through Azure, Copilot, software subscriptions, and security. Expectations call for Azure growth of roughly 45%, though capacity constraints could limit near-term upside. Microsoft Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft withdrew as anchor customer from Nscale’s planned U.K. AI data center, reportedly because of electricity-grid and power-supply delays. The decision highlights infrastructure constraints but may also reflect disciplined capital allocation; third-party operators could benefit if hyperscalers build less capacity themselves. Microsoft Pulls Out of U.K. Data Center Deal
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s aggressive AI capital expenditures could pressure free cash flow and margins if Azure monetization does not accelerate. One analyst also said Maia remains well behind Nvidia and Google’s custom chips, limiting its near-term competitive impact. Microsoft AI Bull Case and Valuation Risks

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $533.52 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $506.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $442.31. The company has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $43,388,826.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total value of $3,984,293.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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