1,141,076 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Acquired by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,141,076 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $425,644,000. Microsoft comprises 2.3% of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 valued at $10,852,884,000 after buying an additional 2,784,809 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted 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 valued at $8,982,083,000 after buying an additional 9,493,778 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,138,798 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,715,379,000 after buying an additional 1,599,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total value of $3,984,293.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $539.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $504.95 and a 200-day moving average of $439.96. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $675 from $525 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing accelerating Azure and Microsoft 365 growth driven by artificial intelligence. The firm believes Microsoft’s valuation remains reasonable despite its recent rally. UBS raises Microsoft price target
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms have lifted their targets, with analysts highlighting Azure momentum, approximately 30 million Copilot seats, Microsoft’s commercial backlog and the potential for a larger-than-usual earnings beat. The October 28 results will provide an important test of whether AI spending is translating into revenue and profit.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Maia 300 custom AI accelerator is expected to scale across Azure data centers and reportedly deliver more tokens per megawatt than conventional GPU systems. The chip could reduce inference costs and Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia and AMD hardware. Microsoft Maia 300 AI chip
• Positive Sentiment: AI care-management company Tucuvi joined Microsoft’s Pegasus startup program, potentially expanding Microsoft’s enterprise AI pipeline and go-to-market reach in healthcare. Microsoft also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91, signaling continued confidence in cash generation. Tucuvi joins Microsoft Pegasus Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Azure management is seeking roughly 20% cost reductions could improve efficiency and margins, but also underscore the pressure created by Microsoft’s substantial AI data-center investments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s $10 million contribution to a White House ballroom project is unlikely to affect near-term financial results, though it could attract political or reputational scrutiny. Microsoft White House ballroom contribution
• Negative Sentiment: Higher inflation and bond yields have pressured AI valuations and raised concerns about the financing cost and returns of large infrastructure projects. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet makes it less vulnerable than smaller AI companies, but valuation sensitivity remains a risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to Hold, while reports of security vulnerabilities, executive share sales and intense competition from rapidly growing AI companies add caution. Amy Hood’s sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.71.

About Microsoft

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.