SCS Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• SCS Capital Management increased its Microsoft stake by 173.7% in the second quarter, adding 183,360 shares to hold 288,945 shares valued at approximately $107.8 million. Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $578.73; Melius Research recently upgraded the stock to “Buy” with a $665 target.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, beating expectations, while revenue grew 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98, although investors continue to monitor AI execution, infrastructure spending and senior talent departures.

SCS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 173.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 288,945 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 183,360 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.0% of SCS Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. SCS Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $107,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Glynn Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $530.00 to $575.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Microsoft from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" rating in a report on Monday. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $578.73.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $665. The firm said rising corporate concerns about AI risks could increase demand for Microsoft’s security, governance and compliance products, while positioning Azure as a relatively dependable way to participate in the AI trend. Microsoft stock rises as Melius upgrades to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Broad market strength also supported MSFT. The Nasdaq reached a record as megacap technology stocks rallied on optimism about earnings growth, with Microsoft among the sector leaders. Expectations for strong technology-sector profits continue to support investor appetite for the shares. Nasdaq hits record as megacap gains offset elevated Treasury yields
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues expanding Copilot’s enterprise usefulness. Wood Mackenzie connected its proprietary energy data and analytics to Microsoft Copilot through a new Model Context Protocol connector, providing another example of specialized business content being integrated into Microsoft’s AI ecosystem. Wood Mackenzie connects energy intelligence with Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming Xbox and Xbox Game Pass releases provided a smaller consumer-business catalyst. New game launches may support engagement and subscription activity, although the impact is likely less significant than Azure and AI developments. Microsoft stock rises ahead of new Xbox game releases
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft and Meta reportedly encouraged employees to reduce their use of Anthropic’s Claude in favor of internal AI tools. The move could lower Microsoft’s external AI expenses and strengthen Copilot adoption, but it also indicates ongoing competition and uncertainty over which AI models will deliver the best economics. Microsoft and Meta steer staff from Anthropic Claude to in-house AI
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon hired longtime Microsoft AI executive Pedram Rezaei, formerly associated with Copilot. The departure could raise concerns about retaining senior AI talent as cloud and software rivals intensify their competition. Amazon hires a Microsoft AI leader
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on execution risks. Microsoft’s large backlog offers revenue visibility, but the timing of recognition, infrastructure spending and cash conversion could limit near-term benefits. Questions also remain about whether Copilot can become a breakout AI application. How much revenue visibility does Microsoft’s backlog provide?

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $525.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $492.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $431.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company 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%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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