Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Lessened by Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC reduced its Microsoft stake by 17.7% in the second quarter, selling 8,684 shares and retaining 40,340 shares valued at approximately $15.05 million. Microsoft remains the firm’s fifth-largest holding at 2.9% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft has strong institutional and analyst support: hedge funds and other institutions own 71.13% of the stock, while analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $578.73.
• Recent operating results exceeded expectations, with quarterly revenue rising 17.7% year over year and EPS beating estimates; Microsoft also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. Investors remain focused on AI monetization, Azure growth and Copilot adoption, alongside concerns about rising AI infrastructure spending and debt.

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC cut its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,340 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,684 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.9% of Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 234.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,822,280 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,619,211,000 after acquiring an additional 12,493,786 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 9,493,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamant Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 38,442.1% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,810,388 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,521,001,000 after purchasing an additional 6,792,718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. CLSA reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $578.73.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New AI hardware and Windows strategy: Microsoft unveiled the $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra, powered by Nvidia’s RTX chip, allowing users to run AI models and agents locally rather than through the cloud. The launch could strengthen Windows’ position in AI PCs, support device demand and create new opportunities for Microsoft’s software ecosystem. Microsoft to sell $2,599 Surface Laptop Ultra containing Nvidia AI chip
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization remains the core bull case: Analysts and investors continue to point to Azure growth, Copilot revenue potential and Microsoft’s perceived strength in AI security and enterprise trust. Evercore ISI reiterated a Buy rating and raised its target to $635, while Melius Research upgraded the stock to Buy with a $665 target. Microsoft: AI-Driven Azure Upside Spurs Buy Rating and Target Price Hike to $635
• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals provide support: Microsoft’s latest reported quarter exceeded expectations, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and earnings above consensus. Optimism ahead of the next earnings report is also supported by reported Azure momentum and a history of earnings beats.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings date: Microsoft will release fiscal 2027 first-quarter results after the market close on October 28. The date gives investors a near-term catalyst, but it may also keep attention focused on Azure growth, Copilot usage, capital spending and free cash flow. Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date
• Negative Sentiment: Debt-funded AI expansion raises risk: Microsoft is issuing additional debt to finance data centers and AI hardware. While this supports capacity growth, investors are increasingly concerned about leverage, declining free cash flow and the possibility that AI infrastructure spending becomes excessive or bubble-like.
• Negative Sentiment: Copilot utilization concerns: Usage-tracking commentary suggests many employees at companies with Microsoft Copilot licenses use the service minimally. If low engagement leads to weaker renewals or slower seat expansion, it could challenge assumptions that Copilot will quickly become a major source of recurring AI revenue. Bad News for Microsoft: Basically Zero AI Use for Most Employees on Copilot

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MSFT opened at $529.76 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50-day moving average is $498.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $433.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (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 net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

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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