Vancity Investment Management Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 10.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 136,824 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 16,049 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 7.7% of Vancity Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Vancity Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,338,370,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $18,306,443,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $6,928,664,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $5,653,812,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,000,706,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up from $610.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $608.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore raised Microsoft from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.54.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, 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 transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction 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 represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Trending Headlines about Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft delivered a strong fiscal first quarter, with revenue of $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89, both above expectations. Azure revenue surged 48%, while Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30%, reinforcing the view that AI demand is translating into meaningful cloud growth. Microsoft Earnings Expose a Growing Divide in the Magnificent 7 AI Trade
- Positive Sentiment: Management issued second-quarter revenue guidance of $96.0 billion to $97.1 billion, above the $95.7 billion consensus estimate. Analysts responded with multiple price-target increases, including targets of $630 to $680, and Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to “strong buy.”
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s strong cash generation and diversified enterprise business continue to distinguish it from rivals facing sharper cash-flow concerns. Analysts argue that Azure, Copilot, AI agents and Microsoft’s security products provide several ways to monetize AI. The expanded Estée Lauder partnership, which will extend Copilot to more than 14,000 employees, offers another example of enterprise adoption. Estée Lauder and Microsoft Strategic Partnership
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s voluntary exit offer for approximately 60,000 employees may improve productivity and redirect resources toward AI, but it also highlights a significant restructuring as the company shifts toward more automated, equipment-intensive operations. Microsoft’s 60,000-Person Buyout Offer
- Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Microsoft’s capital intensity. The company plans roughly $170 billion of AI-related capital spending, while also arranging a $25 billion bond sale—the first major U.S. debt offering since 2017—to fund its buildout. Rising borrowing costs increase scrutiny of future AI returns. Microsoft Plans to Raise $25 Billion in Debt
- Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending was below analyst expectations because third-party AI-chip and data-center capacity was delayed, pushing some capacity into the first half of 2027. While management described this as a supply issue rather than weaker demand, the miss hurt AI infrastructure suppliers and revived concerns about the pace of expansion.
- Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s cloud gross margin is reportedly narrowing as chip, power, data-center and labor costs rise. With the Nasdaq 100 down sharply during October amid fears of an AI spending bubble, investors are demanding proof that Microsoft’s large backlog will convert into profitable cash flow—not merely future revenue.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $521.91 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $512.91 and a 200 day moving average of $438.43. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $551.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.05.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.28% and a net margin of 41.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. 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. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.00%.
Microsoft Profile
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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