Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by State of Wyoming

Key Points

• State of Wyoming more than doubled its Microsoft stake by 129.1% in the second quarter, ending with 30,409 shares valued at approximately $11.34 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue of $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, while revenue increased 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 41 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $578.73, although executives—including Amy Hood and Judson Althoff—have recently sold shares and investors continue to monitor AI execution and spending risks.

State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 129.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,409 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 17,134 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.1% of State of Wyoming's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. State of Wyoming's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Friedenthal Financial grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.2% in the first quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Sequent Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,052,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. American Investment Services Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% during the first quarter. American Investment Services Inc. now owns 876 shares of the software giant's stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

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 Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $525.18 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $492.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $431.07. The firm has a market cap 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. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 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%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm 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. 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Microsoft to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $578.73.

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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