Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Newly Purchased by Welch Capital Partners LLC NY

Key Points

• Welch Capital Partners LLC NY purchased 3,137 Microsoft shares worth approximately $1.17 million during the second quarter, making Microsoft its 15th-largest holding. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue up 17.7% year over year. Analysts remain broadly positive, citing strong Azure and AI demand; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $589.71.
• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share, implying an annualized dividend of $3.92 and a 0.7% yield. The company is also developing its Maia 300 AI accelerator to improve Azure efficiency and reduce reliance on third-party chips.

Welch Capital Partners LLC NY purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,137 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,170,000. Microsoft makes up about 0.2% of Welch Capital Partners LLC NY's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 234.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,619,211,000 after buying an additional 12,493,786 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Microsoft by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Microsoft by 64.3% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,982,083,000 after buying an additional 9,493,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 38,442.1% during the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,810,388 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,521,001,000 after buying an additional 6,792,718 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $675 from $525 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing accelerating Azure and Microsoft 365 growth driven by artificial intelligence. The firm believes Microsoft’s valuation remains reasonable despite its recent rally. UBS raises Microsoft price target
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms have lifted their targets, with analysts highlighting Azure momentum, approximately 30 million Copilot seats, Microsoft’s commercial backlog and the potential for a larger-than-usual earnings beat. The October 28 results will provide an important test of whether AI spending is translating into revenue and profit.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Maia 300 custom AI accelerator is expected to scale across Azure data centers and reportedly deliver more tokens per megawatt than conventional GPU systems. The chip could reduce inference costs and Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia and AMD hardware. Microsoft Maia 300 AI chip
• Positive Sentiment: AI care-management company Tucuvi joined Microsoft’s Pegasus startup program, potentially expanding Microsoft’s enterprise AI pipeline and go-to-market reach in healthcare. Microsoft also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91, signaling continued confidence in cash generation. Tucuvi joins Microsoft Pegasus Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Azure management is seeking roughly 20% cost reductions could improve efficiency and margins, but also underscore the pressure created by Microsoft’s substantial AI data-center investments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s $10 million contribution to a White House ballroom project is unlikely to affect near-term financial results, though it could attract political or reputational scrutiny. Microsoft White House ballroom contribution
• Negative Sentiment: Higher inflation and bond yields have pressured AI valuations and raised concerns about the financing cost and returns of large infrastructure projects. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet makes it less vulnerable than smaller AI companies, but valuation sensitivity remains a risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to Hold, while reports of security vulnerabilities, executive share sales and intense competition from rapidly growing AI companies add caution. Amy Hood’s sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $539.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $504.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $439.96.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. 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 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered Microsoft from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $589.71.

Microsoft Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.