Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Essential Partners LLC

Key Points

• Essential Partners LLC nearly doubled its Microsoft stake to 5,289 shares during the first quarter, with the position valued at approximately $1.96 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft’s outstanding shares.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $4.74 per share and revenue of $90.01 billion, surpassing analyst expectations while revenue increased 17.7% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a 0.7% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $560.27, though concerns remain about AI infrastructure spending pressuring margins and free cash flow.

Essential Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 119.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,289 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,884 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.7% of Essential Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Essential Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Markel Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after buying an additional 537,634 shares during the period. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $502,077,000 after acquiring an additional 788,297 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $495.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $411.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $408.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to highlight Microsoft’s Azure expansion, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, and the company’s ability to sustain double-digit earnings growth. Microsoft’s latest quarter also exceeded expectations, with revenue of approximately $90 billion and earnings growth supported by Azure. Microsoft’s Cloud Gains Can Sustain Double-Digit Earnings Growth
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing stronger Copilot demand and accelerating infrastructure investment. Other analysts remain bullish, with a six-month median target near $540, reinforcing investor confidence in Microsoft’s long-term AI positioning. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified platform, potentially improving distribution, user engagement, and monetization as it competes with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Copilot Applications
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the first AI data-center deployment under its $9.7 billion agreement with IREN, supporting Azure capacity expansion. The deal improves supply visibility but also underscores Microsoft’s substantial capital requirements. IREN Delivers First AI Cloud Deployment
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s roughly $175 billion AI infrastructure spending plan could pressure free cash flow and cloud margins. A reported decline in cloud gross margin and higher data-center, chip, electricity, and labor costs raise questions about how much of the company’s large AI backlog will translate into profit. Microsoft’s AI Backlog and Profitability Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft has closed at least 15 China offices and joint ventures add geopolitical and operational uncertainty, although Azure reportedly provides a profitable reason to retain a limited China presence. Microsoft Retreats in China

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. China Renaissance cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, UBS Group set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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