3,800 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund

Key Points

• United Super trimmed its Microsoft position by 3,800 shares, or 0.6%. The fund still held 634,050 shares worth approximately $236.5 million at quarter-end, representing 4.2% of its portfolio.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on Microsoft. Forty-three analysts rate the stock a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $571.18 price target, despite some target reductions and one strong-sell rating.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion, up 17.7% year over year, and EPS of $4.74, beating estimates. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, while investors continue to weigh strong Azure and AI demand against high infrastructure spending and valuation risks.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 634,050 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,800 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.2% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings in Microsoft were worth $236,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 234.5% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,619,211,000 after acquiring an additional 12,493,786 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in Microsoft by 30.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after purchasing an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,982,083,000 after acquiring an additional 9,493,778 shares during the period. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 38,442.1% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,810,388 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,521,001,000 after acquiring an additional 6,792,718 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Forty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $571.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft 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 value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI demand remain the primary catalyst. Investor data and analyst commentary point to accelerating Azure demand, while Microsoft’s recent earnings showed its fastest cloud growth in four years. The improving demand is helping ease concerns that the company’s substantial AI infrastructure spending will not generate adequate returns. Ca$htag: MSFT Azure Cloud Drives Soaring Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo added Microsoft to its Q4 Tactical Ideas list and raised its price target to $725, citing Azure’s growth potential and the prospect of improved AI monetization through Copilot. The action adds to a series of bullish analyst revisions; one report noted that 52 analysts covering Microsoft currently have no sell ratings. With Azure as a Catalyst, Microsoft Is Positioned for Sustained Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship provides potential additional value. Investors are increasingly focused on Microsoft’s stake and commercial partnership with OpenAI, particularly ahead of a possible OpenAI initial public offering that could provide a market reference for the investment. OpenAI’s Future IPO Keeps Me Buying Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced new real-time AI speech models for customer-service agents, multilingual assistants and voice interfaces. The products broaden Microsoft’s enterprise AI offering and could support additional cloud consumption and software revenue. Microsoft Targets Contact Center Market With Real-Time AI Voice Models
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting Microsoft’s October 7 Surface and Windows event. New hardware or Windows updates could support the ecosystem, although the event has not yet produced a material earnings catalyst. Microsoft Stock Notches Up Ahead of the Surface Show
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include heavy AI capital spending, valuation concerns and broader market concentration. Critics argue that rising data-center capacity could pressure compute pricing and returns, while strategists warn that a market correction could disproportionately affect megacap technology stocks. Microsoft’s dividend remains affordable, but AI infrastructure spending and lease commitments could limit future dividend growth. Morgan Stanley Strategist Sees Market Drawdown Potential

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $517.53 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $490.08 and its 200 day moving average is $430.19. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. 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 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

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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