Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Capstone Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Capstone Wealth Management increased its Microsoft stake by 62.3% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 4,120 shares valued at approximately $1.54 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue grew 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $567.07.
• Microsoft shares traded near $501.61, while insiders sold approximately $71.4 million worth of stock over the past 90 days. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 0.8%.

Capstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,120 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of Capstone Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Capstone Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $85,604,000 after purchasing an additional 8,773 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock worth $199,014,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 8.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after buying an additional 537,634 shares during the period. Taylor Securities Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 138.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $502,077,000 after buying an additional 788,297 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were 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. The trade was a 15.09% 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. Insiders sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $567.07.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.6%

MSFT stock opened at $501.61 on Tuesday. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The business's 50-day moving average is $469.18 and its 200 day moving average is $423.62.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher Azure prices could support growth and margins. BNP Paribas said Microsoft may gain another growth lever as higher Azure prices are introduced to renewing customers, assigning a $549 price target. Microsoft’s Azure Has Another Growth Lever Waiting in the Wings, Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their outlooks on AI demand. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its Microsoft price target from $522 to $608 and maintained an overweight rating, citing opportunities in AI and cybersecurity. Erste Group also raised its earnings estimates. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Microsoft Price Target to $608
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains substantial. Microsoft and Anthropic reportedly represent $87.7 billion of the $103 billion contract backlog at AI infrastructure provider Nscale, highlighting the scale of enterprise AI spending and potential Azure demand. Microsoft and Anthropic dominate Nscale’s contract backlog
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder-return and valuation support added to the bullish case. Bill Ackman described Microsoft as a core holding after building a roughly $2.4 billion position, while Microsoft’s dividend increase and strong software franchise were cited as additional attractions.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is adding a fourth cloud region in Hyderabad, improving geographic resilience, although the company provided no site-level capacity or investment details. Satya Nadella’s expected attendance at a Trump-Xi state dinner could provide diplomatic visibility but has limited direct financial impact.
• Negative Sentiment: Copyright and AI-regulation concerns remain overhangs. Publisher testimony in ongoing copyright disputes has intensified questions about whether AI products substitute for original content. Microsoft executives have also warned that divergent AI rules could affect industry economics. Microsoft Slips as AI Testimony Sharpens Copyright Risk
• Negative Sentiment: New gaming-advertising initiatives generated investor skepticism. A patent covering contextual in-game advertisements raised concerns about user experience and monetization strategy. Microsoft Stock Slips on Xbox Patent for Ads in Video Games
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are weighing elevated AI capital spending, cloud-security concerns following the Hugging Face incident and the possibility that expectations are already priced in after Microsoft’s powerful summer advance. Redburn’s lower $440 target underscores the disagreement over valuation.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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