Arvest Investments Inc. Grows Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Arvest Investments increased its Microsoft stake by 13.4% in the second quarter to 21,351 shares valued at approximately $7.97 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $4.74 per share and revenue of $90.01 billion, beating analyst expectations, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $564.27.
• Microsoft insiders sold roughly $50.7 million of stock over the past 90 days, including significant sales by CEOs Judson Althoff and Satya Nadella. Shares opened at $491.65, with the company valued at about $3.65 trillion.

Arvest Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,351 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,527 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.0% of Arvest Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Arvest Investments Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 489.7% during the second quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 40,790 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,215,000 after purchasing an additional 33,873 shares during the period. Aspen Investment Management Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Aspen Investment Management Inc now owns 23,195 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,652,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,486,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,014 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,481,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,721 shares of the software giant's stock worth $49,508,000 after buying an additional 7,533 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% 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, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% 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 have sold 101,335 shares of company stock worth $50,655,795 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $564.27.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5%

MSFT stock opened at $491.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm's fifty day moving average is $451.71 and its 200 day moving average is $417.95. 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft disclosed that Azure has surpassed a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate and reorganized its reporting structure around AI agents and infrastructure. The disclosure improves visibility into the company’s fastest-growing business and reinforces the long-term AI investment case. Microsoft Breaks Out Azure Sales at $100 Billion Annualized Pace, Reorganizes AI Segments
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is supporting UpDoc’s team in an ARPA-H program developing autonomous clinical AI for cardiovascular care, alongside OpenAI and NVIDIA. The initiative offers potential strategic and reputational benefits in healthcare AI, although the immediate financial impact is likely limited. ARPA-H Selects UpDoc to Lead Development of Autonomous Clinical AI System
• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square, managed by Bill Ackman, reportedly increased its Microsoft position by 6.2 million shares. The purchase may provide a sentiment boost by signaling confidence from a prominent activist investor. Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman Boosts Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong demand for high-bandwidth memory from Microsoft and other AI companies is benefiting suppliers such as SK Hynix. The report highlights Microsoft’s continued AI infrastructure spending, but also underscores dependence on costly hardware and supply-chain capacity. Nvidia and Meta Are Hungry for HBM
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday addressed a record 974 vulnerabilities, including two Windows zero-days reportedly exploited in the wild. While the fixes reduce longer-term security risk, the scale of the release may raise concerns about software quality, cybersecurity costs and potential customer disruption. Microsoft Patches Record 974 Flaws
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst downgrade argues that Microsoft’s AI capital-expenditure rotation does not yet support an optimistic view, intensifying concerns that infrastructure spending could pressure returns and free cash flow before monetization catches up. Microsoft: CapEx Rotation Does Not Support an Optimistic View
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh lawsuits from news organizations over AI training and content usage add legal and regulatory uncertainty to Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship. Rising Treasury yields are an additional valuation headwind for large technology companies. Microsoft’s OpenAI Partnership Draws Fresh Legal Fire

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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