Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Anchor Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Anchor Capital Advisors increased its Microsoft stake by 26.7% in the second quarter, owning 90,507 shares valued at approximately $33.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively hold 71.13% of Microsoft’s outstanding stock.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $4.74 per share and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst estimates; revenue rose 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $571.18.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, up from $0.91, for an annualized payout of $3.92 and a yield of approximately 0.8%. Recent insider activity was negative, with executives selling about $71.4 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,507 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 19,091 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.6% during the second quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 63,743 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,778,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares in the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 28,090 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,478,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. GWN Securities Inc. now owns 16,729 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,240,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 77,395 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,870,000 after acquiring an additional 7,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marin Bay Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marin Bay Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,336 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,483,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value 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 trade 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 90 days, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

Microsoft stock opened at $517.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.10. 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 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $490.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $429.97.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. 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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

More Microsoft News

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $530.00 to $575.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. CLSA reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Forty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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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