Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock: Engineers Gate Manager LP Cuts Position

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its Microsoft stake by 97.4% in Q2, selling 190,982 shares and retaining 5,177 shares valued at about $1.93 million.
• Other institutional investors made mixed moves, while institutions collectively owned 71.13% of Microsoft’s shares.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue growth of 18.8% and earnings per share of $4.89, beating estimates; it also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share.

Engineers Gate Manager LP decreased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 97.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,177 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 190,982 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $85,604,000 after acquiring an additional 8,773 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $3,652,000. Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $75,641,000. GTS Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 44.6% in the second quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 271,597 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $101,311,000 after purchasing an additional 83,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Henson Edgewater Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $9,430,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure’s reported 48% growth helped lift Microsoft amid an AI-related tech rebound. Commentary also points to AI demand exceeding available capacity and argues Microsoft can fund its expansion from strong cash flow—an advantage as investors scrutinize rivals’ borrowing and spending. Article: What's Going on with Microsoft Stock on Tuesday? Article: Why Microsoft Was Rewarded for Spending Less on AI
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI tools may reach a broader base of PC users: the company says AI can run on a computer with 8GB of memory, potentially supporting adoption of Copilot and related services. Article: AI on an 8GB PC? Yes, Says Microsoft
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox’s reveal of a new Elder Scrolls title drew attention to Microsoft’s gaming business, but the article provides no indication of near-term financial impact. Article: Microsoft Stock Rises After The Elder Scrolls VI: Sentinel Reveal
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha contributor downgraded Microsoft, arguing that the easiest gains may be behind the stock—an assessment that could temper expectations after its recent strength. Article: Microsoft: The Easy Gains Are Already Over (Downgrade)
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s reported $45.2 billion in quarterly capital spending, largely for AI, underscores the risk that infrastructure costs could weigh on cash flow before returns fully materialize. Reports of buyouts offered to roughly 60,000 employees may also prompt questions about workforce changes. Article: 5 questions to ask if your boss offers you a buyout

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Argus reduced their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Microsoft from $608.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Barclays increased their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.54.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $520.99 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $514.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $438.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $551.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.05.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 31.28%. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.13 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.86 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 135,504 shares of company stock valued at $68,138,024 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Profile

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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