10,505 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 10,505 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $5,441,000. Microsoft accounts for 2.4% of Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $397.23 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $452.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $487.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $641.00 price objective (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi reiterated a Buy on Microsoft, highlighting continued Copilot adoption and strong Azure growth as reasons the company can outpace the recent sell-off. Microsoft in focus as Citi reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares (~$2M), a behavioral vote of confidence that can help stabilize sentiment among retail/institutional investors. Microsoft Director John Stanton Buys 5,000 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s extended OpenAI revenue arrangement (locking a meaningful share of OpenAI output through 2032) is a multi-year revenue and strategic moat tailwind for AI monetization. As Microsoft extends 20% OpenAI deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced a large long-term commitment to expand AI access in the Global South (reported ~$50B), a growth opportunity that also implies heavy multi-year capex and execution risk. Microsoft to invest $50B in Global South AI push
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships and marketplace traction (e.g., CrowdStrike on Microsoft Marketplace) reinforce enterprise ecosystem stickiness but have limited immediate revenue impact. Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership change in gaming: Phil Spencer’s immediate retirement and replacement by Asha Sharma introduces near-term uncertainty for Xbox strategy and investor confidence in the gaming unit. Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer retires
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel downgraded MSFT (Buy→Hold) and cut its price target, citing Azure supply constraints as a near-term growth headwind — a concrete analyst call that can pressure flows and justify further volatility. Stifel flags Azure supply constraints
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh AI quality/security reports (Copilot/Office bug and “AI recommendation poisoning” threats) raise short-term adoption and reputational risk that could delay enterprise deployments and weigh on sentiment. AI recommendation poisoning concerns

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).