12,661 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Acquired by Invst LLC

Key Points

• Invst LLC acquired 12,661 Microsoft shares worth approximately $4.7 million in the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of MSFT.
• Microsoft reported a strong quarter, with earnings per share of $4.74 beating estimates by $0.50 and revenue rising 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, but investors remain focused on whether heavy AI spending will generate sufficient Azure revenue and protect margins.

Invst LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,661 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,723,000. Microsoft comprises 0.5% of Invst LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $60,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $533.52 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The company's fifty day moving average is $506.08 and its 200-day moving average is $442.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft received a bullish signal ahead of its Oct. 28 earnings report after Bernstein raised its price target to $662 and maintained an “Outperform” rating. Investors are watching Azure growth, commercial remaining performance obligations, and whether Microsoft’s more than $115 billion in recent capital spending is translating into AI revenue. Microsoft Given New Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled its Maia 300 AI accelerator and plans multi-gigawatt deployments beginning next year. The chip could reduce Microsoft’s reliance on Nvidia and lower inference costs, supporting the long-term economics of its AI infrastructure strategy. Microsoft's New AI Chip Could Change the Economics of AI
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced security controls for enterprise AI agents and emphasized that frontier models can pose insider-threat-like risks. The initiative could strengthen demand for Microsoft’s security products as businesses adopt agentic AI. Microsoft Introduces Security Features for AI Agents
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Microsoft as a broad way to monetize AI through Azure, Copilot, software subscriptions, and security. Expectations call for Azure growth of roughly 45%, though capacity constraints could limit near-term upside. Microsoft Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft withdrew as anchor customer from Nscale’s planned U.K. AI data center, reportedly because of electricity-grid and power-supply delays. The decision highlights infrastructure constraints but may also reflect disciplined capital allocation; third-party operators could benefit if hyperscalers build less capacity themselves. Microsoft Pulls Out of U.K. Data Center Deal
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s aggressive AI capital expenditures could pressure free cash flow and margins if Azure monetization does not accelerate. One analyst also said Maia remains well behind Nvidia and Google’s custom chips, limiting its near-term competitive impact. Microsoft AI Bull Case and Valuation Risks

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Phillip Securities cut Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Melius Research set a $665.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $590.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.

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