Jeter Robert S II Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Jeter Robert S II increased its Microsoft stake by 22.9% in the second quarter, owning 6,009 shares valued at approximately $2.31 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, while revenue grew 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, an annualized yield of about 0.8%.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 43 Buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, although insiders sold $71.4 million of stock over the past three months. AI monetization, Azure and Copilot support the bullish outlook, while heavy infrastructure spending and Xbox restructuring remain concerns.

Jeter Robert S II raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,009 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.2% of Jeter Robert S II's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Jeter Robert S II's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $85,604,000 after purchasing an additional 8,773 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $199,014,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,562,197,000 after acquiring an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 138.8% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $502,077,000 after purchasing an additional 788,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% 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, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. 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 a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $500.59 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $473.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 EPS 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%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.83%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stifel upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $575 from $530. The analyst expects Azure, Copilot and other AI services to accelerate revenue while Microsoft maintains resilient margins without needing excessive spending on AI models. Microsoft upgraded as analyst sees steady margins
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft plans to invest more than $10 billion in the Gulf through 2030, funding cloud and AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, connectivity and workforce development across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. The spending expands Azure’s international capacity and could create long-term commercial opportunities. Microsoft plans Gulf investment
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization remains the central bullish thesis. Microsoft is pursuing broader Copilot adoption, including discounts of roughly 30% to 50% for large enterprise customers, while management highlights independent AI safety evaluators and software that controls AI agents as emerging opportunities. Microsoft plans larger Copilot discounts
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft and Coinbase disrupted an AI-enabled phishing network, reinforcing Microsoft’s cybersecurity credentials. However, the operation does not eliminate the persistent economic incentive for criminals to compromise accounts. Microsoft cuts AI phishing supply chain
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s collaboration with Photonic on quantum-computing resource estimation and its decision to give DARPA access to its Majorana 2 system enhance its technology and government relationships, but these projects are unlikely to affect near-term earnings. Microsoft opens quantum system to DARPA testing
• Negative Sentiment: Xbox is cutting 268 positions and transferring the next Halo game to Activision as part of a gaming restructuring. The move may improve efficiency but raises concerns about Microsoft’s gaming execution and follows recent layoffs. Microsoft cuts Xbox roles
• Negative Sentiment: Broader technology stocks weakened, while scrutiny of data-center water consumption and Microsoft’s heavy AI infrastructure spending adds to concerns about costs, regulation and execution.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Argus dropped their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Forty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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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