Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Newly Purchased by Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC

Key Points

• Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC purchased 1,432 Microsoft shares worth approximately $534,000 in the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, beating analyst expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with 42 Buy ratings and an average price target of $578.73, although insiders sold $71.4 million worth of shares over the past three months.

Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,432 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $534,000. Microsoft accounts for about 0.3% of Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Microsoft by 30.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,426,862,000 after acquiring an additional 9,814,598 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,852,884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784,809 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 64.3% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 24,264,779 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,982,083,000 after purchasing an additional 9,493,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,138,798 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,715,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599,412 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm'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 owned 100,447 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Microsoft from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $578.73.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced Microsoft-Decision-1, an AI model it says makes decisions substantially faster than GPT-6 Sol. The launch reinforces Microsoft’s competitive position in enterprise AI and could support demand for Azure and Copilot services. Microsoft launches Microsoft-Decision-1
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor commentary remains bullish on Microsoft’s AI stack, Azure acceleration, Copilot adoption and a large reported backlog. Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target to $725, while Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a Buy rating with a $600 target. Morgan Stanley rating
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is attempting to revive Windows and expand on-device AI with new Nvidia-powered Surface hardware, including the premium Surface Laptop Ultra. Local AI processing could strengthen the Windows ecosystem and stimulate higher-value PC sales. Surface Laptop Ultra
• Positive Sentiment: The company is nearing a $4 trillion market capitalization after a strong earnings beat, with revenue and earnings growth continuing to support the recent rally. The next major test is Microsoft’s expected October 28 earnings report. Microsoft approaches $4 trillion valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s new Xbox division, focused on film, television, events and theme parks, could expand the reach of its gaming franchises, although the strategy is unlikely to materially affect near-term financial results. Microsoft forms new Xbox unit
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. suspension of Microsoft’s PERM green-card sponsorship program creates hiring and retention uncertainty, particularly for specialized AI and engineering workers. Investors are weighing potential compliance costs and the risk of an “AI brain drain.” U.S. suspends Microsoft green-card program
• Negative Sentiment: Italy launched an EU-backed antitrust investigation into Microsoft-owned game companies over virtual currencies, adding regulatory risk to the gaming business. Italy gaming investigation

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $535.07 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $501.15 and a 200-day moving average of $434.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.10. 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.