Cetera Trust Company N.A Acquires 13,170 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Cetera Trust Company N.A. acquired 13,170 Microsoft shares valued at approximately $4.9 million, making Microsoft its fifth-largest holding and representing about 2.5% of its portfolio.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook: 42 rate the stock Buy, with an average price target of $589.71 versus a recent price of $529.05.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, including $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. Investors remain focused on Azure growth and AI profitability, while regulatory scrutiny and rising infrastructure costs present risks.

Cetera Trust Company N.A 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 & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,170 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,913,000. Microsoft accounts for about 2.5% of Cetera Trust Company N.A's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,138,798 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,715,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,599,412 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $589.71.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was 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 $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories 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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $529.05 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $505.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $441.16. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's payout ratio is 20.27%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company's principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.

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