Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock: Mayport LLC Increases Position

Mayport LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,509 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,823 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.6% of Mayport LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Mayport LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 64,375,360 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,013,297,000 after purchasing an additional 543,172 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $18,306,443,000. Amundi increased its stake in Microsoft by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,852,884,000 after buying an additional 2,784,809 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive ahead of earnings. Oppenheimer raised its price target to $625 from $570, while Truist lifted its target to $600 from $575; both cited strong enterprise demand and sustained Azure growth. Oppenheimer raises Microsoft target ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street expects continued AI momentum, with Azure growth projected to accelerate toward 45% and Copilot adoption supporting longer-term monetization. Microsoft’s reported cloud backlog and a reported agreement for Anthropic to spend at least $45 billion on Microsoft cloud infrastructure also reinforce demand visibility. Azure AI growth ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its AI collaboration with Dayforce across human resources, finance and operations, potentially broadening enterprise use of Microsoft’s AI and cloud ecosystem. Dayforce expands AI collaboration with Microsoft
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft reports after the bell Wednesday. Analysts expect approximately $4.72 EPS and $90.69 billion in revenue, while options markets imply about a 5.09% post-earnings move. Traders are positioned around $555 calls and $460 puts, signaling substantial volatility rather than a clear direction. Microsoft earnings options outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees across the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K. The move may reduce costs and redirect resources toward AI, but its scale raises concerns about restructuring, execution and the underlying pressure from heavy data-center investment. Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also weighing rising AI infrastructure costs, capacity constraints and possible margin pressure. A reported delay affecting a Microsoft AI data-center project in the U.K. highlights the practical bottlenecks facing the company’s aggressive capital-spending strategy. Microsoft AI data-center constraints

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Melius Research set a $665.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Forty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $596.07.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

MSFT opened at $531.33 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $510.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $437.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.66 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. 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%.

Microsoft 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.