Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors increased its Microsoft stake by 300.5% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 11,842 shares valued at approximately $4.42 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft’s outstanding shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 42 analysts rating Microsoft a Buy and five assigning a Hold rating; the stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $560.27.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.74 per share, exceeding expectations, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a 0.8% yield.

Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 300.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,842 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 8,885 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.7% of Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. CLSA reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley identified a bullish technical signal across several megacap technology stocks, including Microsoft, potentially supporting further gains as institutional positioning improves. A Bullish Signal Could Point to Gains Ahead for These Big Tech Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s roughly $678 billion Azure backlog gives investors greater visibility into future cloud and AI revenue, helping counter fears that hyperscalers may struggle to earn adequate returns on AI infrastructure spending. Microsoft Stock Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Supports AI Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s internally developed AI chips are reported to deliver efficiency gains of up to 40% versus reliance on OpenAI-related infrastructure. Greater use of its own technology could improve capacity, margins and control over the AI stack. Microsoft’s Own AI Chips Are Driving Efficiency Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Azure’s more-than-$100 billion annual revenue milestone, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption and Microsoft’s ability to monetize AI through its broad enterprise software base.
• Positive Sentiment: New Azure and Microsoft Marketplace integrations, including Dirac’s AI process-planning platform and other enterprise applications, reinforce demand for Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem. An investment manager also maintained exposure to Microsoft, while Altarock Partners increased its stake. Dirac Brings AI-Driven Process Planning to Microsoft Azure
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is changing its AI data-center policy by reducing nondisclosure requirements and emphasizing community engagement. The approach may ease regulatory and local opposition, but could increase transparency and complicate facility expansion.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavy AI capital expenditures may outpace revenue and cash-flow returns. A separate comparison argued Oracle currently offers stronger AI backlog growth and valuation, potentially making Microsoft less attractive to some buyers.
• Negative Sentiment: Beijing is reportedly accelerating the replacement of Microsoft Windows in Chinese government systems, creating a geopolitical and regional-sales headwind. The departure of Microsoft AI’s chief marketing officer also introduces some execution uncertainty around consumer AI adoption.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $484.31 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $415.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $408.42. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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