Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Newly Bought by QV Investors Inc.

QV Investors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 38,460 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $14,346,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after purchasing an additional 9,814,598 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,852,884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784,809 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,982,083,000 after buying an additional 9,493,778 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% in the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,906,086 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,108,976,000 after buying an additional 781,973 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.1% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 20,721,690 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,670,548,000 after buying an additional 1,371,040 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $524.51 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $508.51 and a 200 day moving average of $446.17. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and earnings expectations remain strong. Bank of America reaffirmed its Buy rating and forecast approximately 44.8% Azure growth. Analysts expect quarterly results to be broadly in line with estimates, with Azure strength potentially offsetting heavy investment in AI infrastructure. Microsoft Stock Forecast: BofA Reaffirms Buy Ahead of Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom silicon and security businesses could support future cloud margins. The Maia AI accelerator and other internally developed chips may reduce reliance on Nvidia, improve cost control and retain more economics from Microsoft’s AI services. Investors are also watching whether security growth helps offset data-center expenses. Microsoft: Security And Silicon Set The Stage For Cloud Margin Recovery
• Positive Sentiment: Medical AI results add another potential growth opportunity. Microsoft’s MAI-DxO reportedly diagnosed complex cases more than twice as often as general physicians in a simulation, strengthening the company’s positioning in healthcare AI, although commercialization and regulatory hurdles remain. Microsoft develops AI tool that can diagnose sequentially like a doctor
• Neutral Sentiment: The upcoming report is a major near-term catalyst. Investors will focus on Azure growth, Copilot adoption, AI monetization, capital expenditures, backlog conversion and management’s outlook. The stock is trading near its yearly high, raising expectations for a strong forecast. Microsoft’s Earnings Problem: Even Great May Not Be Enough
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending and market conditions could pressure valuation and margins. Investors have recently sold some technology shares when companies raised infrastructure budgets, while a weaker overall market and higher oil prices have added volatility. Microsoft’s large data-center investment must translate into revenue growth to justify the spending. Microsoft Earnings Report To Focus On AI Momentum, Capex
• Negative Sentiment: Operational and product concerns remain. Microsoft withdrew from a U.K. data-center deal because of power-delivery delays, and Xbox cloud-streaming price changes have generated customer friction. Former CEO Bill Gates has also warned about AI safety risks, potentially increasing regulatory scrutiny. Microsoft pulls out of UK Nscale data centre deal over power delay

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $660.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Forty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $592.15.

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.