Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Boosted by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates increased its Microsoft position by 1.5% in the second quarter to 435,694 shares valued at approximately $162.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of MSFT.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish: 43 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with an average price target of $569.29 versus the reported share price of $509.22. Analysts cited Copilot monetization, Azure scale and enterprise AI growth as key drivers.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, beating estimates, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, though heavy data-center spending and uneven AI adoption remain risks.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 435,694 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 6,583 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.8% of Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $162,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $101,000. Finally, Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $112,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Microsoft from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Forty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $569.29.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled a redesigned Copilot experience featuring integrated Office tools, Chat, Cowork and Autopilot capabilities. Jefferies said the products create potential usage-based revenue streams, while analysts expect enterprise adoption to build gradually. Microsoft's Autopilot opens new AI revenue path
• Positive Sentiment: The Copilot overhaul is positioned as a stronger competitive response to Anthropic’s Claude. Microsoft also added GitHub’s coding engine to Copilot, allowing office workers to create applications and dashboards using natural-language instructions, potentially expanding paid AI usage. Microsoft puts GitHub coding engine inside Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reaffirmed its Buy rating, and William Blair maintained a bullish view based on Copilot monetization potential and Microsoft’s expanding enterprise AI platform. Azure’s reported scale and backlog also support the long-term investment case. Microsoft Buy rating backed by Copilot monetization
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is extending AI partnerships, including a Nokia collaboration that combines Nokia’s telecommunications data with Microsoft Fabric for AI-driven network operations. The opportunity could broaden cloud demand, although financial benefits are not yet quantified. Nokia and Microsoft expand their AI reach
• Neutral Sentiment: TTEC Digital’s 11th consecutive Microsoft AI Business Solutions Inner Circle award highlights the strength of Microsoft’s partner ecosystem, but the recognition is not expected to materially affect near-term revenue. TTEC Digital earns Microsoft AI award
• Negative Sentiment: Reported AI usage shows a sizable regional gap—28.8% in the Global North versus 16.2% in the Global South—raising questions about the pace and breadth of Copilot adoption. Microsoft AI adoption gap
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is moving deeper into enterprise software, creating another competitive threat to Microsoft’s productivity, cloud and AI offerings. Meanwhile, additional layoffs and restructuring may reinforce concerns about execution and workforce disruption. Meta puts Microsoft on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Plans to more than triple data-center capacity by 2032 could support Azure growth but require enormous capital investment, increasing pressure to convert AI demand into cash flow and profits. Investor questions about AI subsidies and regulation add further uncertainty. Microsoft data center expansion

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $509.22 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft 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.

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