Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL Buys 40,539 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL initiated a Microsoft position by purchasing 40,539 shares worth approximately $15.1 million, making MSFT its fifth-largest holding at 3.7% of the portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with 43 Buy ratings and an average price target of $590.30.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue growth of 17.7% and earnings that exceeded estimates, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98, and continues investing heavily in AI despite concerns about capital spending, infrastructure constraints, and monetization.

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 40,539 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $15,122,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.7% of Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 8,773 shares in the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,652,000. Markel Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $199,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,562,197,000 after acquiring an additional 537,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $2,616,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Evercore raised Microsoft from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, September 28th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. CLSA reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 21st. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $590.30.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft received a bullish signal ahead of its Oct. 28 earnings report after Bernstein raised its price target to $662 and maintained an “Outperform” rating. Investors are watching Azure growth, commercial remaining performance obligations, and whether Microsoft’s more than $115 billion in recent capital spending is translating into AI revenue. Microsoft Given New Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled its Maia 300 AI accelerator and plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning next year. The chip could reduce Microsoft’s reliance on Nvidia and lower inference costs, supporting the long-term economics of its AI infrastructure strategy. Microsoft's New AI Chip Could Change the Economics of AI
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced security controls for enterprise AI agents and emphasized that frontier models can pose insider-threat-like risks. The initiative could strengthen demand for Microsoft’s security products as businesses adopt agentic AI. Microsoft Introduces Security Features for AI Agents
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Microsoft as a broad way to monetize AI through Azure, Copilot, software subscriptions, and security. Expectations call for Azure growth of roughly 45%, though capacity constraints could limit near-term upside. Microsoft Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft withdrew as anchor customer from Nscale’s planned U.K. AI data center, reportedly because of electricity-grid and power-supply delays. The decision highlights infrastructure constraints but may also reflect disciplined capital allocation; third-party operators could benefit if hyperscalers build less capacity themselves. Microsoft Pulls Out of U.K. Data Center Deal
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s aggressive AI capital expenditures could pressure free cash flow and margins if Azure monetization does not accelerate. One analyst also said Maia remains well behind Nvidia and Google’s custom chips, limiting its near-term competitive impact. Microsoft AI Bull Case and Valuation Risks

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed 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 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $533.52 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $506.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $442.31. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

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.

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