Berry Wealth Group LP Acquires New Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Berry Wealth Group LP acquired 4,686 Microsoft shares worth approximately $1.75 million, making MSFT about 5.6% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $4.74 per share and revenue of $90.01 billion, surpassing analyst estimates, while revenue increased 17.7% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $589.71. Microsoft also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, although insiders sold roughly $75.4 million in stock over the past 90 days.

Berry Wealth Group LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,686 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,748,000. Microsoft accounts for about 5.6% of Berry Wealth Group LP's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Haverford Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $432,346,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $23,561,000. First Nebraska Trust Co purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $35,339,000. Kendall Capital Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $1,250,000. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $5,427,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $529.05 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $505.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $440.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.10.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This is a positive change 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 yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. BNP Paribas Exane cut Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Evercore upgraded Microsoft from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $589.71.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Microsoft to remain the only major hyperscaler with positive free cash flow over the next year despite heavy AI investment. This reinforces confidence that the company can fund data-center expansion without substantial external financing. Microsoft Free Cash Flow Expected to Remain Positive
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement with NiSource for approximately 1,100 megawatts of power for an Indiana data-center campus beginning in 2028. Securing electricity supports future Azure capacity as grid constraints become a bottleneck for AI expansion. Microsoft Signs Power Deal With NiSource
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom Maia AI chips and reports that a new model achieved comparable or better performance than OpenAI’s system using a fraction of the computing power could eventually reduce reliance on expensive third-party GPUs and improve AI economics. Microsoft Wants to Make AI Cheaper
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on Azure growth, Copilot adoption, AI monetization and capital expenditures ahead of earnings. Strong demand could support the shares, but the market wants evidence that revenue growth is translating into sustainable margins.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Microsoft’s grip on business software and says Microsoft and Amazon Web Services may need to do more to address cloud-service barriers. Potential remedies could increase compliance costs or weaken customer-lock-in advantages. UK Regulator Targets Microsoft’s Business Software Grip
• Negative Sentiment: Questions remain over whether custom chips will deliver meaningful savings: AI infrastructure, power and data-center commitments are rising rapidly, while Microsoft is reportedly seeking substantial cost reductions in Azure. That creates concern about near-term free-cash-flow and margin pressure.

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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