Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Purchases New Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Tocqueville Asset Management acquired 454,510 Microsoft shares worth approximately $169.5 million, making Microsoft its sixth-largest holding and representing about 2.2% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while insiders sold $71.4 million of stock during the last quarter, including sales by CEO Satya Nadella and EVP Amy Hood under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Analysts maintain a generally bullish view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $578.73. Microsoft recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 454,510 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $169,541,000. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kelman Lazarov Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $932,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $22,530,000. one8zero8 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $15,283,000. Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $14,710,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,399,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. This trade 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, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $578.73.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced Microsoft-Decision-1, an AI model it says makes decisions substantially faster than GPT-6 Sol. The launch reinforces Microsoft’s competitive position in enterprise AI and could support demand for Azure and Copilot services. Microsoft launches Microsoft-Decision-1
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor commentary remains bullish on Microsoft’s AI stack, Azure acceleration, Copilot adoption and a large reported backlog. Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target to $725, while Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $600 target. Morgan Stanley rating
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is attempting to revive Windows and expand on-device AI with new Nvidia-powered Surface hardware, including the premium Surface Laptop Ultra. Local AI processing could strengthen the Windows ecosystem and stimulate higher-value PC sales. Surface Laptop Ultra
• Positive Sentiment: The company is nearing a $4 trillion market capitalization after a strong earnings beat, with revenue and earnings growth continuing to support the recent rally. The next major test is Microsoft’s expected October 28 earnings report. Microsoft approaches $4 trillion valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s new Xbox division, focused on film, television, events and theme parks, could expand the reach of its gaming franchises, although the strategy is unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Microsoft forms new Xbox unit
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. suspension of Microsoft’s PERM green-card sponsorship program creates hiring and retention uncertainty, particularly for specialized AI and engineering workers. Investors are weighing potential compliance costs and the risk of an “AI brain drain.” U.S. suspends Microsoft green-card program
• Negative Sentiment: Italy launched an EU-backed antitrust investigation into Microsoft-owned game companies over virtual currencies, adding regulatory risk to the gaming business. Italy gaming investigation

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $535.07 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $501.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $435.10.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

About Microsoft

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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