Stanley Capital Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Stanley Capital Management acquired 14,695 Microsoft shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $5.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft beat quarterly estimates with $4.74 in earnings per share and $90.01 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, for an annualized yield of 0.7%.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 43 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $590.30, although ratings range from “Strong Sell” to “Outperform.” Investors continue to weigh Microsoft’s AI growth potential against heavy capital spending, infrastructure constraints and margin risks.

Stanley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,695 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $5,482,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. lifted 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 worth $47,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $533.52 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $506.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $442.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.98 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial cut Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $530.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Forty-three 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $590.30.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, 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 value of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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

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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