Quantbot Technologies LP Buys New Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 55,737 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $20,791,000. Microsoft comprises 0.8% of Quantbot Technologies LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fortress Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $976,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,676,000. Martin & Co. Inc. TN bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,583,000. Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $144,146,000. Finally, Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,181,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $589.71.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $675 from $525 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing accelerating Azure and Microsoft 365 growth driven by artificial intelligence. The firm believes Microsoft’s valuation remains reasonable despite its recent rally. UBS raises Microsoft price target
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms have lifted their targets, with analysts highlighting Azure momentum, approximately 30 million Copilot seats, Microsoft’s commercial backlog and the potential for a larger-than-usual earnings beat. The October 28 results will provide an important test of whether AI spending is translating into revenue and profit.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Maia 300 custom AI accelerator is expected to scale across Azure data centers and reportedly deliver more tokens per megawatt than conventional GPU systems. The chip could reduce inference costs and Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia and AMD hardware. Microsoft Maia 300 AI chip
• Positive Sentiment: AI care-management company Tucuvi joined Microsoft’s Pegasus startup program, potentially expanding Microsoft’s enterprise AI pipeline and go-to-market reach in healthcare. Microsoft also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91, signaling continued confidence in cash generation. Tucuvi joins Microsoft Pegasus Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Azure management is seeking roughly 20% cost reductions could improve efficiency and margins, but also underscore the pressure created by Microsoft’s substantial AI data-center investments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s $10 million contribution to a White House ballroom project is unlikely to affect near-term financial results, though it could attract political or reputational scrutiny. Microsoft White House ballroom contribution
• Negative Sentiment: Higher inflation and bond yields have pressured AI valuations and raised concerns about the financing cost and returns of large infrastructure projects. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet makes it less vulnerable than smaller AI companies, but valuation sensitivity remains a risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to Hold, while reports of security vulnerabilities, executive share sales and intense competition from rapidly growing AI companies add caution. Amy Hood’s sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $539.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $504.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $439.96. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total value of $3,984,293.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $302,924,086.32. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.