Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Lessened by Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC

Key Points

• Focus Partners Advisor Solutions cut its Microsoft stake by 11.4% in the second quarter, selling 19,992 shares and retaining 155,071 shares valued at approximately $57.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable: 41 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with an average price target of $578.73, despite Morgan Stanley downgrading the stock to Negative. Melius Research separately upgraded the shares to Buy and set a $665 target, citing demand for Microsoft’s AI security and governance products.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding expectations, while revenue grew 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98, equivalent to an annualized $3.92 and a 0.7% yield.

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,071 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 19,992 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.5% of Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $57,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Microsoft by 30.8% during the first 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,852,884,000 after buying an additional 2,784,809 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,300,410 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,235,785,000 after buying an additional 458,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 9,493,778 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $530.00 to $575.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 28th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Microsoft from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "market outperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $578.73.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Melius Research upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $665. The firm said rising corporate concerns about AI risks could increase demand for Microsoft’s security, governance and compliance products, while positioning Azure as a relatively dependable way to participate in the AI trend. Microsoft stock rises as Melius upgrades to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Broad market strength also supported MSFT. The Nasdaq reached a record as megacap technology stocks rallied on optimism about earnings growth, with Microsoft among the sector leaders. Expectations for strong technology-sector profits continue to support investor appetite for the shares. Nasdaq hits record as megacap gains offset elevated Treasury yields
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues expanding Copilot’s enterprise usefulness. Wood Mackenzie connected its proprietary energy data and analytics to Microsoft Copilot through a new Model Context Protocol connector, providing another example of specialized business content being integrated into Microsoft’s AI ecosystem. Wood Mackenzie connects energy intelligence with Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming Xbox and Xbox Game Pass releases provided a smaller consumer-business catalyst. New game launches may support engagement and subscription activity, although the impact is likely less significant than Azure and AI developments. Microsoft stock rises ahead of new Xbox game releases
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft and Meta reportedly encouraged employees to reduce their use of Anthropic’s Claude in favor of internal AI tools. The move could lower Microsoft’s external AI expenses and strengthen Copilot adoption, but it also indicates ongoing competition and uncertainty over which AI models will deliver the best economics. Microsoft and Meta steer staff from Anthropic Claude to in-house AI
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon hired longtime Microsoft AI executive Pedram Rezaei, formerly associated with Copilot. The departure could raise concerns about retaining senior AI talent as cloud and software rivals intensify their competition. Amazon hires a Microsoft AI leader
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on execution risks. Microsoft’s large backlog offers revenue visibility, but the timing of recognition, infrastructure spending and cash conversion could limit near-term benefits. Questions also remain about whether Copilot can become a breakout AI application. How much revenue visibility does Microsoft’s backlog provide?

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5%

MSFT opened at $525.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $431.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm 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 business's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

About Microsoft

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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