QRG Capital Management Inc. Purchases 99,314 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,280,983 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 99,314 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.0% of QRG Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $477,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 108,335 shares of company stock worth $53,499,700 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $510.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $441.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $415.21. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during 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%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Dbs Bank decreased their price target on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Microsoft from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $562.49.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft will begin reporting quarterly Azure revenue in fiscal 2027 and reorganize its financial reporting from three segments into two AI-focused categories. Azure generated approximately $29.4 billion in quarterly revenue and $101.9 billion for fiscal 2026, providing investors with more visibility into cloud growth and AI demand. Microsoft to reveal Azure cloud sales in financial reporting shift
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reaffirmed a Buy rating and $600 price target, while other analysts cited Microsoft’s large AI backlog, Azure’s more than $100 billion annual revenue and the potential for improved AI economics. The company’s latest earnings also showed strong momentum, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and a substantial earnings beat. Analyst reaffirms Buy on Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched GPT-6 Astra, potentially strengthening Microsoft’s AI ecosystem and demand for Azure infrastructure. Microsoft is also securing long-term power capacity for data centers and expanding Microsoft 365 Copilot integrations. OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares worth about $43.4 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the sale limits its significance, although it reduced his holdings by 15.09% and adds to recent insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft will impose monthly limits on Xbox cloud-gaming hours for Game Pass subscribers beginning in November as service costs rise. The change may improve economics but could hurt consumer sentiment and gaming engagement. Microsoft to impose time limits on Xbox cloud gaming
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh Microsoft’s roughly $116 billion AI infrastructure spending plan, rising data-center costs and pressure on cloud margins. The key risk is whether the large backlog converts into profitable cash flow rather than simply future revenue.

Microsoft Profile

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).