ICONIQ Capital LLC Buys 2,452 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

ICONIQ Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,452 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $476,963,000. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $5,885,000. Maxi Investments CY Ltd bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $31,528,000. Portland Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $1,223,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $716,384,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $529.05 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $505.53 and its 200-day moving average is $440.59. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. 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 company has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business 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 business earned $3.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Wolfe Research downgraded Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.71.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.