Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Bought by Amundi

Key Points

• Amundi increased its Microsoft stake by 12% in the second quarter, purchasing 5.02 million additional shares. It now owns 46.7 million shares worth approximately $17.4 billion, representing 4.2% of its portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 71.13%, while Microsoft insiders sold approximately $75.4 million of stock during the last quarter.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $609.54. Microsoft also reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.

Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,694,778 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,019,702 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.2% of Amundi's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Amundi owned 0.63% of Microsoft worth $17,418,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Schulz Wealth LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $422,000. Wellington Grp LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 24.4% in the second quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 14,973 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,585,000 after buying an additional 2,934 shares during the last quarter. Kirkwood Financial Services bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $382,000. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,865,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $568,281,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at $302,924,086.32. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets set a $610.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $570.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.54.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft delivered a strong fiscal first quarter, with revenue of $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89, both above expectations. Azure revenue surged 48%, while Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30%, reinforcing the view that AI demand is translating into meaningful cloud growth. Microsoft Earnings Expose a Growing Divide in the Magnificent 7 AI Trade
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued second-quarter revenue guidance of $96.0 billion to $97.1 billion, above the $95.7 billion consensus estimate. Analysts responded with multiple price-target increases, including targets of $630 to $680, and Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to “strong buy.”
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s strong cash generation and diversified enterprise business continue to distinguish it from rivals facing sharper cash-flow concerns. Analysts argue that Azure, Copilot, AI agents and Microsoft’s security products provide several ways to monetize AI. The expanded Estée Lauder partnership, which will extend Copilot to more than 14,000 employees, offers another example of enterprise adoption. Estée Lauder and Microsoft Strategic Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s voluntary exit offer for approximately 60,000 employees may improve productivity and redirect resources toward AI, but it also highlights a significant restructuring as the company shifts toward more automated, equipment-intensive operations. Microsoft’s 60,000-Person Buyout Offer
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Microsoft’s capital intensity. The company plans roughly $170 billion of AI-related capital spending, while also arranging a $25 billion bond sale—the first major U.S. debt offering since 2017—to fund its buildout. Rising borrowing costs increase scrutiny of future AI returns. Microsoft Plans to Raise $25 Billion in Debt
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending was below analyst expectations because third-party AI-chip and data-center capacity was delayed, pushing some capacity into the first half of 2027. While management described this as a supply issue rather than weaker demand, the miss hurt AI infrastructure suppliers and revived concerns about the pace of expansion.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s cloud gross margin is reportedly narrowing as chip, power, data-center and labor costs rise. With the Nasdaq 100 down sharply during October amid fears of an AI spending bubble, investors are demanding proof that Microsoft’s large backlog will convert into profitable cash flow—not merely future revenue.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $521.91 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current 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 $551.15. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $512.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $438.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.05.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 31.28%. The company had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.13 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.00%.

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.

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.