William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,048,642 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $764,184,000. Microsoft makes up 2.3% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.
Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avanda Investment Management Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $4,611,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,053,000. Concord Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $10,742,000. Korea Investment CORP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,873,752,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $350,329,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Trending Headlines about Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled its Maia 300 custom AI accelerator, designed for multi-gigawatt deployment across Azure data centers. Management says it can deliver 40% more tokens per megawatt than a GPU-based system, potentially lowering inference costs and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD hardware. What Could Microsoft Gain From Its Maia 300 AI Chip Rollout?
- Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism remains focused on Azure growth, Microsoft’s AI backlog, and more than $130 billion in reported data-center leases. The scale of commitments supports long-term demand for Azure and Copilot, although it also raises capital-spending risks. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
- Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects the upcoming fiscal first-quarter report to show improving differentiation in software. Earnings are scheduled for October 28. Microsoft Price Target Raised by Barclays
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure chief reportedly seeks at least 20% cost cuts in an effort to offset soaring AI data-center expenses. The move could improve efficiency and margins, but it also highlights pressure from the company’s aggressive investment cycle. Microsoft Weighs 20% Cost Cuts in Azure
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is introducing new AI-enabled Surface devices and an Xbox Nano Controller, supporting its broader push to put generative AI into consumer hardware. These products are strategically relevant but are unlikely to materially affect near-term results.
- Negative Sentiment: Hot inflation data pushed bond yields higher and triggered a broad selloff in AI-related shares, increasing concern that expensive AI infrastructure projects may face higher financing costs and tougher valuation scrutiny.
- Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to “hold,” while Erste Group made a minor reduction to its FY2028 earnings forecast. These actions add to near-term caution following the stock’s strong run.
- Negative Sentiment: EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares worth approximately $4.0 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance and represents only 1.3% of her holdings, it is a limited bearish signal.
- Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft issued security updates addressing more than 1,400 vulnerabilities could renew concerns about cybersecurity exposure, though patching the flaws is ultimately protective.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%
Microsoft stock opened at $533.69 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $504.15 and a 200 day moving average of $438.68. 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 market cap of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $512.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $581.24.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft
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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