Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Acquires 1,553 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,899 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.6% of Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Tanager Wealth Management LLP raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 44,118 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,457,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Mason & Associates Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.6% during the second quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 18,070 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,740,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Northwest Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the second quarter. Northwest Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,673 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,354,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Greenline Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the second quarter. Greenline Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,087,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. now owns 4,925 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,837,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $498.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $471.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.28. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. 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 currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their outlook. Oppenheimer increased its Microsoft price target to $570 from $515 while maintaining an Outperform rating, citing sustained Azure and Microsoft 365 commercial momentum into fiscal 2027. Cantor Fitzgerald also reportedly raised its target to $608 and kept an Overweight rating. Oppenheimer Microsoft price target article
• Positive Sentiment: Azure has additional growth levers. BNP Paribas said recent Azure strength may not reflect the full opportunity, pointing to higher pricing as contracts renew, capacity expansion and a potential SpaceX cloud relationship. Azure growth has reportedly reached the mid-40% range, supporting the view that AI infrastructure demand can continue driving revenue. BNP Paribas Azure outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns remain supportive. Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend approximately 8% to $0.98 per share, extending its dividend-growth streak to more than two decades. The increase signals management confidence, although the modest yield is unlikely to be the primary stock catalyst. Microsoft dividend increase article
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI remains both an opportunity and a concentration risk. Microsoft’s AI partner is reportedly seeking a valuation above $1.2 trillion, potentially reinforcing Microsoft’s Azure and Copilot ecosystem. However, projected cash burn of roughly $278 billion and the company’s reliance on Microsoft-supported infrastructure raise questions about customer durability and AI spending economics. OpenAI valuation and Microsoft article
• Negative Sentiment: Xbox layoffs pressured sentiment. Microsoft is cutting approximately 268 Xbox jobs, with broader reports pointing to roughly 500 affected employees, while shifting the next Halo game to Activision. The move highlights a continuing gaming reset and was the clearest near-term reason for weakness in MSFT shares. Microsoft Xbox restructuring article
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution risks remain. Investors continue to monitor heavy capital spending, copyright and regulatory challenges, and concerns that AI revenue is concentrated among a small number of customers. These risks could pressure margins or the valuation if Azure growth fails to meet elevated expectations.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore set a $528.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Forty-two research 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, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $569.29.

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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