Kendall Capital Management Buys New Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Kendall Capital Management bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,350 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,427,000. Vista Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $1,658,000. Welch Capital Partners LLC NY acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $1,170,000. Hudson Portfolio Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $1,413,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $87,240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $529.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.10. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $505.53 and its 200-day moving average is $440.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business 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%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is an increase 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%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.71.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

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.

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.