2,172,142 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Commerce Bank

Key Points

• Commerce Bank acquired 2.17 million Microsoft shares worth approximately $810.3 million in the second quarter, making Microsoft its fifth-largest holding at 3.6% of the portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft insiders sold about 150,314 shares valued at $75.4 million over the past three months, including sales by CEO Satya Nadella and EVP Amy Hood under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.
• Microsoft reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $589.71.

Commerce Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,172,142 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $810,252,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.6% of Commerce Bank's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $101,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%

MSFT opened at $539.44 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $504.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $439.96. 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 one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Melius Research set a $665.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $589.71.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $675 from $525 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing accelerating Azure and Microsoft 365 growth driven by artificial intelligence. The firm believes Microsoft’s valuation remains reasonable despite its recent rally. UBS raises Microsoft price target
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms have lifted their targets, with analysts highlighting Azure momentum, approximately 30 million Copilot seats, Microsoft’s commercial backlog and the potential for a larger-than-usual earnings beat. The October 28 results will provide an important test of whether AI spending is translating into revenue and profit.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Maia 300 custom AI accelerator is expected to scale across Azure data centers and reportedly deliver more tokens per megawatt than conventional GPU systems. The chip could reduce inference costs and Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia and AMD hardware. Microsoft Maia 300 AI chip
• Positive Sentiment: AI care-management company Tucuvi joined Microsoft’s Pegasus startup program, potentially expanding Microsoft’s enterprise AI pipeline and go-to-market reach in healthcare. Microsoft also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91, signaling continued confidence in cash generation. Tucuvi joins Microsoft Pegasus Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Azure management is seeking roughly 20% cost reductions could improve efficiency and margins, but also underscore the pressure created by Microsoft’s substantial AI data-center investments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s $10 million contribution to a White House ballroom project is unlikely to affect near-term financial results, though it could attract political or reputational scrutiny. Microsoft White House ballroom contribution
• Negative Sentiment: Higher inflation and bond yields have pressured AI valuations and raised concerns about the financing cost and returns of large infrastructure projects. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet makes it less vulnerable than smaller AI companies, but valuation sensitivity remains a risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to Hold, while reports of security vulnerabilities, executive share sales and intense competition from rapidly growing AI companies add caution. Amy Hood’s sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance.

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.

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