Wallace Capital Management Inc. Buys New Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Wallace Capital Management opened a Microsoft position by purchasing 3,954 shares worth approximately $1.475 million. Other institutions also added significant stakes, with institutional investors collectively owning 71.13% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 43 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $590.30.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.74 in earnings per share and $90.01 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.

Wallace Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,954 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,475,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $119,407,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,253,471,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,928,000. Pointe Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 9,044 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,374,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sonoma Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,323,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business'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 transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This 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 90 days, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Melius Research set a $665.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $590.30.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $533.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $506.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $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. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.

Microsoft News Roundup

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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