Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. Acquires New Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,790 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,771,000. Microsoft makes up 2.0% of Deane Retirement Strategies Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure backlog supports visibility. Microsoft’s commercial backlog reportedly reached approximately $678 billion, suggesting substantial future cloud revenue and helping the stock outperform during a broader technology-sector selloff. Microsoft Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Defies Tech Selloff
• Positive Sentiment: AI demand is strengthening Microsoft’s enterprise moat. Analysts and investors point to Azure, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the company’s broad enterprise ecosystem as advantages that could support continued AI monetization. Microsoft’s stock has gained about 28% over the past month, substantially outperforming the technology-sector ETF cited in the coverage. Most Investors Overlook MSFT’s AI Moat
• Positive Sentiment: Meta Platforms is becoming a major Microsoft customer. Meta’s growing reliance on Microsoft’s infrastructure for AI could increase Azure demand and provide additional validation of Microsoft’s cloud platform. Meta Platforms Is Now One of Microsoft’s Biggest Customers
• Positive Sentiment: Data-center expansion and partnerships add incremental support. Microsoft is expanding capacity to meet AI demand, while new customer, sports, and business partnerships reinforce its cloud and AI ecosystem. These developments are strategically favorable but are unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings on their own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical and momentum coverage remains favorable. Several reports describe MSFT as a top-ranked momentum or rebound candidate, but these are largely investment-screening and opinion-based articles rather than new fundamental announcements. MSFT, ORCL and INTC Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Capital intensity is the principal concern. Coverage highlights sharply lower free cash flow as Microsoft invests heavily in AI infrastructure and data centers. The rally toward the $600 level may depend on whether the next earnings report shows that booked demand is converting into revenue quickly enough to offset margin and cash-flow pressure. What Would It Take to Get MSFT Stock Up to $600?
• Negative Sentiment: Short-interest data provides no useful signal. The reported figures show zero shares sold short both currently and previously, with a zero-day short-interest ratio, indicating a likely data-quality issue rather than a meaningful change in investor positioning.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

MSFT opened at $491.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $423.32 and a 200-day moving average of $410.28. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. President Capital increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $510.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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