Maloon Powers Pitre Higgins & Dennehy LLC Acquires New Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Maloon Powers Pitre Higgins & Dennehy LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 17,986 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $6,709,000. Microsoft accounts for about 2.3% of Maloon Powers Pitre Higgins & Dennehy LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Montgomery Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft delivered a strong fiscal first quarter, with revenue of $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89, both above expectations. Azure revenue surged 48%, while Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30%, reinforcing the view that AI demand is translating into meaningful cloud growth. Microsoft Earnings Expose a Growing Divide in the Magnificent 7 AI Trade
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued second-quarter revenue guidance of $96.0 billion to $97.1 billion, above the $95.7 billion consensus estimate. Analysts responded with multiple price-target increases, including targets of $630 to $680, and Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to “strong buy.”
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s strong cash generation and diversified enterprise business continue to distinguish it from rivals facing sharper cash-flow concerns. Analysts argue that Azure, Copilot, AI agents and Microsoft’s security products provide several ways to monetize AI. The expanded Estée Lauder partnership, which will extend Copilot to more than 14,000 employees, offers another example of enterprise adoption. Estée Lauder and Microsoft Strategic Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s voluntary exit offer for approximately 60,000 employees may improve productivity and redirect resources toward AI, but it also highlights a significant restructuring as the company shifts toward more automated, equipment-intensive operations. Microsoft’s 60,000-Person Buyout Offer
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Microsoft’s capital intensity. The company plans roughly $170 billion of AI-related capital spending, while also arranging a $25 billion bond sale—the first major U.S. debt offering since 2017—to fund its buildout. Rising borrowing costs increase scrutiny of future AI returns. Microsoft Plans to Raise $25 Billion in Debt
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending was below analyst expectations because third-party AI-chip and data-center capacity was delayed, pushing some capacity into the first half of 2027. While management described this as a supply issue rather than weaker demand, the miss hurt AI infrastructure suppliers and revived concerns about the pace of expansion.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s cloud gross margin is reportedly narrowing as chip, power, data-center and labor costs rise. With the Nasdaq 100 down sharply during October amid fears of an AI spending bubble, investors are demanding proof that Microsoft’s large backlog will convert into profitable cash flow—not merely future revenue.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $521.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $551.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $512.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $438.43.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.72 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.28% and a net margin of 41.17%. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $662.00 to $722.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group set a $700.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $608.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.54.

About Microsoft

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.