Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its Microsoft stake by 1%, selling 50,704 shares and retaining 5.01 million shares valued at approximately $1.87 billion. Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, with several other firms adding to their positions.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue of $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89, exceeding expectations; Azure revenue grew 48%. Management’s second-quarter revenue guidance topped consensus, prompting several analysts to raise price targets.
• Investors remain focused on the risks of Microsoft’s aggressive AI buildout, including roughly $170 billion in planned capital spending, a proposed $25 billion debt offering, delayed infrastructure capacity and pressure on cloud margins. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,008,045 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 50,704 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.8% of HighTower Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Microsoft worth $1,868,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock worth $85,604,000 after acquiring an additional 8,773 shares during the period. D.B. Root & Company LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $3,652,000. Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,641,000. GTS Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 271,597 shares of the software giant's stock worth $101,311,000 after purchasing an additional 83,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Henson Edgewater Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $9,430,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft delivered a strong fiscal first quarter, with revenue of $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89, both above expectations. Azure revenue surged 48%, while Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30%, reinforcing the view that AI demand is translating into meaningful cloud growth. Microsoft Earnings Expose a Growing Divide in the Magnificent 7 AI Trade
• Positive Sentiment: Management issued second-quarter revenue guidance of $96.0 billion to $97.1 billion, above the $95.7 billion consensus estimate. Analysts responded with multiple price-target increases, including targets of $630 to $680, and Wolfe Research upgraded the stock to “strong buy.”
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s strong cash generation and diversified enterprise business continue to distinguish it from rivals facing sharper cash-flow concerns. Analysts argue that Azure, Copilot, AI agents and Microsoft’s security products provide several ways to monetize AI. The expanded Estée Lauder partnership, which will extend Copilot to more than 14,000 employees, offers another example of enterprise adoption. Estée Lauder and Microsoft Strategic Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s voluntary exit offer for approximately 60,000 employees may improve productivity and redirect resources toward AI, but it also highlights a significant restructuring as the company shifts toward more automated, equipment-intensive operations. Microsoft’s 60,000-Person Buyout Offer
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Microsoft’s capital intensity. The company plans roughly $170 billion of AI-related capital spending, while also arranging a $25 billion bond sale—the first major U.S. debt offering since 2017—to fund its buildout. Rising borrowing costs increase scrutiny of future AI returns. Microsoft Plans to Raise $25 Billion in Debt
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly capital spending was below analyst expectations because third-party AI-chip and data-center capacity was delayed, pushing some capacity into the first half of 2027. While management described this as a supply issue rather than weaker demand, the miss hurt AI infrastructure suppliers and revived concerns about the pace of expansion.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s cloud gross margin is reportedly narrowing as chip, power, data-center and labor costs rise. With the Nasdaq 100 down sharply during October amid fears of an AI spending bubble, investors are demanding proof that Microsoft’s large backlog will convert into profitable cash flow—not merely future revenue.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $521.91 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $512.91 and a 200-day moving average of $438.43. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $551.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.28% and a net margin of 41.17%. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.13 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Evercore upgraded Microsoft from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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 owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company's principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.

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