Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Decreased by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its Microsoft stake by 1.0% in the second quarter, selling 50,704 shares and retaining 5.01 million shares worth approximately $1.87 billion. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft insiders sold 143,009 shares worth about $71.4 million over the past three months, including significant sales by CEO Satya Nadella and EVP Amy Hood under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Microsoft’s growth outlook remains broadly positive, supported by strong Azure and AI demand, better-than-expected quarterly results, and bullish analyst revisions. However, heavy AI infrastructure spending, valuation concerns and market concentration remain key risks.

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,008,045 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 50,704 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.8% of HighTower Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Microsoft worth $1,868,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Planning LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,052,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. American Investment Services Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. American Investment Services Inc. now owns 876 shares of the software giant's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the software giant's stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business'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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI demand remain the primary catalyst. Investor data and analyst commentary point to accelerating Azure demand, while Microsoft’s recent earnings showed its fastest cloud growth in four years. The improving demand is helping ease concerns that the company’s substantial AI infrastructure spending will not generate adequate returns. Ca$htag: MSFT Azure Cloud Drives Soaring Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo added Microsoft to its Q4 Tactical Ideas list and raised its price target to $725, citing Azure’s growth potential and the prospect of improved AI monetization through Copilot. The action adds to a series of bullish analyst revisions; one report noted that 52 analysts covering Microsoft currently have no sell ratings. With Azure as a Catalyst, Microsoft Is Positioned for Sustained Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship provides potential additional value. Investors are increasingly focused on Microsoft’s stake and commercial partnership with OpenAI, particularly ahead of a possible OpenAI initial public offering that could provide a market reference for the investment. OpenAI’s Future IPO Keeps Me Buying Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced new real-time AI speech models for customer-service agents, multilingual assistants and voice interfaces. The products broaden Microsoft’s enterprise AI offering and could support additional cloud consumption and software revenue. Microsoft Targets Contact Center Market With Real-Time AI Voice Models
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting Microsoft’s October 7 Surface and Windows event. New hardware or Windows updates could support the ecosystem, although the event has not yet produced a material earnings catalyst. Microsoft Stock Notches Up Ahead of the Surface Show
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include heavy AI capital spending, valuation concerns and broader market concentration. Critics argue that rising data-center capacity could pressure compute pricing and returns, while strategists warn that a market correction could disproportionately affect megacap technology stocks. Microsoft’s dividend remains affordable, but AI infrastructure spending and lease commitments could limit future dividend growth. Morgan Stanley Strategist Sees Market Drawdown Potential

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

Microsoft stock opened at $517.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $490.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $429.97. 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 announced 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. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 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 dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Bank of America raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $530.00 to $575.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Forty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $571.18.

Microsoft Company 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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