152,204 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Bought by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 152,204 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $56,775,000. Microsoft makes up about 2.6% of Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Clarion Wealth Managment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $1,585,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $58,385,000. Magellan Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $169,977,000. Mission Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,441,000. Finally, Burk Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $944,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Argus decreased their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.71.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $10.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $529.05. 24,810,924 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,057,592. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $505.53 and its 200 day moving average is $440.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft’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 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.