5,716 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Pacific Sun Financial Corp

Key Points

• Pacific Sun Financial Corp. acquired 5,716 Microsoft shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $2.13 million and representing about 0.9% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, with major holders including Auto Owners Insurance, Amundi, Dimensional Fund Advisors and Arrowstreet Capital increasing their positions. Meanwhile, insiders sold 143,009 shares worth approximately $71.4 million over the past quarter.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with 42 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $578.73.

Pacific Sun Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,716 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,132,000. Microsoft comprises about 0.9% of Pacific Sun Financial Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Microsoft by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after buying an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Microsoft by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,852,884,000 after buying an additional 2,784,809 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Microsoft by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,982,083,000 after buying an additional 9,493,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,138,798 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,715,379,000 after buying an additional 1,599,412 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced Microsoft-Decision-1, an AI model it says makes decisions substantially faster than GPT-6 Sol. The launch reinforces Microsoft’s competitive position in enterprise AI and could support demand for Azure and Copilot services. Microsoft launches Microsoft-Decision-1
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor commentary remains bullish on Microsoft’s AI stack, Azure acceleration, Copilot adoption and a large reported backlog. Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target to $725, while Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $600 target. Morgan Stanley rating
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is attempting to revive Windows and expand on-device AI with new Nvidia-powered Surface hardware, including the premium Surface Laptop Ultra. Local AI processing could strengthen the Windows ecosystem and stimulate higher-value PC sales. Surface Laptop Ultra
• Positive Sentiment: The company is nearing a $4 trillion market capitalization after a strong earnings beat, with revenue and earnings growth continuing to support the recent rally. The next major test is Microsoft’s expected October 28 earnings report. Microsoft approaches $4 trillion valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s new Xbox division, focused on film, television, events and theme parks, could expand the reach of its gaming franchises, although the strategy is unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Microsoft forms new Xbox unit
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. suspension of Microsoft’s PERM green-card sponsorship program creates hiring and retention uncertainty, particularly for specialized AI and engineering workers. Investors are weighing potential compliance costs and the risk of an “AI brain drain.” U.S. suspends Microsoft green-card program
• Negative Sentiment: Italy launched an EU-backed antitrust investigation into Microsoft-owned game companies over virtual currencies, adding regulatory risk to the gaming business. Italy gaming investigation

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Phillip Securities cut Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Forty-two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $578.73.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $535.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50-day moving average is $501.15 and its 200-day moving average is $434.73. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

About Microsoft

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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