Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by BLB&B Advisors LLC

Key Points

• BLB&B Advisors increased its Microsoft position by 7.4% in the second quarter, acquiring 11,547 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 166,945 shares worth approximately $62.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of Microsoft’s 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. Shares recently traded at $517.53, near the upper end of their 52-week range.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.91 to $0.98 per share, while analysts maintained a broadly bullish outlook with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $571.18. Key risks include elevated AI infrastructure spending, valuation concerns and recent insider selling.

BLB&B Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 166,945 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 11,547 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.3% of BLB&B Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. BLB&B Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $62,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $517.53 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $490.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $429.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for 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%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date 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 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $571.18.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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