Magellan Asset Management Ltd Acquires New Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Magellan Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 455,679 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $169,977,000. Microsoft comprises about 3.8% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Glynn Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 34.2% in the 2nd quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 company’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $10.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $529.05. 24,810,924 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,057,592. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $505.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $440.59. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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 paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Microsoft to remain the only major hyperscaler with positive free cash flow over the next year despite heavy AI investment. This reinforces confidence that the company can fund data-center expansion without substantial external financing. Microsoft Free Cash Flow Expected to Remain Positive
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement with NiSource for approximately 1,100 megawatts of power for an Indiana data-center campus beginning in 2028. Securing electricity supports future Azure capacity as grid constraints become a bottleneck for AI expansion. Microsoft Signs Power Deal With NiSource
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom Maia AI chips and reports that a new model achieved comparable or better performance than OpenAI’s system using a fraction of the computing power could eventually reduce reliance on expensive third-party GPUs and improve AI economics. Microsoft Wants to Make AI Cheaper
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on Azure growth, Copilot adoption, AI monetization and capital expenditures ahead of earnings. Strong demand could support the shares, but the market wants evidence that revenue growth is translating into sustainable margins.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Microsoft’s grip on business software and says Microsoft and Amazon Web Services may need to do more to address cloud-service barriers. Potential remedies could increase compliance costs or weaken customer-lock-in advantages. UK Regulator Targets Microsoft’s Business Software Grip
• Negative Sentiment: Questions remain over whether custom chips will deliver meaningful savings: AI infrastructure, power and data-center commitments are rising rapidly, while Microsoft is reportedly seeking substantial cost reductions in Azure. That creates concern about near-term free-cash-flow and margin pressure.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $589.71.

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.