5,682 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Bridgewater Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Bridgewater Advisors increased its Microsoft stake by 8.3% in the second quarter, purchasing 5,682 shares to bring its holdings to 74,033 shares valued at approximately $27.6 million.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and EPS of $4.74 versus the $4.24 consensus estimate. Azure and AI demand remain key growth catalysts, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $571.18.
• Investors should weigh Microsoft’s AI opportunity against risks from heavy infrastructure spending, valuation and market concentration; insiders sold more than $71.4 million of stock over the past three months.

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,033 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,682 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.5% of Bridgewater Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Bridgewater Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 37.4% during the 2nd 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 period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Glynn Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 34.2% in the second quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant's stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $101,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Forty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $571.18.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $517.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $490.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $429.97. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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 value of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft 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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