Novem Group Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Novem Group increased its Microsoft stake by 9% in the second quarter, purchasing 1,429 additional shares for a total of 17,333 shares valued at approximately $6.47 million.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while analysts maintain a favorable outlook: 42 rate the stock Buy and five rate it Hold, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $564.27 target price.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and EPS exceeding estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend 8% to $0.98 per share. However, elevated AI infrastructure spending and insider stock sales remain potential investor concerns.

Novem Group increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,333 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.7% of Novem Group's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Novem Group's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock worth $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after acquiring an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,300,410 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,235,785,000 after purchasing an additional 458,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Microsoft by 10.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,852,884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784,809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $564.27.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend raised 8%: Microsoft increased its quarterly payout from $0.91 to $0.98 per share, payable December 10 to shareholders of record November 19. The increase signals confidence in cash generation and brings the annualized yield to approximately 0.8%, while the payout ratio remains near 20%. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend increase
• Positive Sentiment: Azure momentum remains a key catalyst: Azure revenue growth accelerated to 43% year over year in the latest quarter, with management expecting another acceleration. Azure has also surpassed $100 billion in annual sales, reinforcing the investment case for Microsoft’s cloud and agentic-AI strategy. Microsoft Azure agentic AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise AI ecosystem is expanding: Dun & Bradstreet is integrating its commercial data graph with Microsoft Copilot Studio and Dynamics 365 agents, potentially supporting broader enterprise adoption of Microsoft’s AI tools. Dun and Bradstreet Microsoft Copilot integration
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming product and reporting updates: Microsoft’s October 7 Windows and Surface event could provide a hardware and on-device AI catalyst. Separately, plans to disclose Azure revenue should give investors greater visibility into whether AI spending is translating into sales. Microsoft Windows and Surface event
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is the main overhang: Microsoft is reportedly targeting roughly 38 gigawatts of data-center capacity by 2032, while capital expenditures are already elevated and expected to rise again. Investors are concerned that returns from AI infrastructure may take time to materialize. Microsoft AI spending analysis
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution concerns persist: Federal agencies can begin contracting for Microsoft’s new AI government tier on October 1, but some features may not be available immediately. The gap between commitments and delivery could slow adoption or raise questions about execution. Microsoft government AI tier
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a modest headwind: EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares worth approximately $20.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the transaction was scheduled in advance, it is not necessarily a bearish signal, but it may weigh marginally on sentiment.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $490.30 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $462.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $421.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 EPS for the current 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 represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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