Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Orange Investment Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Orange Investment Advisors reduced its Microsoft stake by 3.3% in the second quarter, selling 2,207 shares and retaining 65,547 shares valued at approximately $24.45 million. Microsoft remains about 3% of the firm’s portfolio, while institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, beating analyst estimates. Azure growth and expanding enterprise AI adoption remain key catalysts, though elevated AI infrastructure spending could pressure returns.
• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend 8% to $0.98 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 0.8%. Wall Street remains broadly positive, with 42 Buy ratings, five Holds, and a consensus price target of $564.27.

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,547 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,207 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock worth $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after purchasing an additional 9,814,598 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,300,410 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,235,785,000 after purchasing an additional 458,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Microsoft by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,852,884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784,809 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend raised 8%: Microsoft increased its quarterly payout from $0.91 to $0.98 per share, payable December 10 to shareholders of record November 19. The increase signals confidence in cash generation and brings the annualized yield to approximately 0.8%, while the payout ratio remains near 20%. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend increase
• Positive Sentiment: Azure momentum remains a key catalyst: Azure revenue growth accelerated to 43% year over year in the latest quarter, with management expecting another acceleration. Azure has also surpassed $100 billion in annual sales, reinforcing the investment case for Microsoft’s cloud and agentic-AI strategy. Microsoft Azure agentic AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise AI ecosystem is expanding: Dun & Bradstreet is integrating its commercial data graph with Microsoft Copilot Studio and Dynamics 365 agents, potentially supporting broader enterprise adoption of Microsoft’s AI tools. Dun and Bradstreet Microsoft Copilot integration
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming product and reporting updates: Microsoft’s October 7 Windows and Surface event could provide a hardware and on-device AI catalyst. Separately, plans to disclose Azure revenue should give investors greater visibility into whether AI spending is translating into sales. Microsoft Windows and Surface event
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is the main overhang: Microsoft is reportedly targeting roughly 38 gigawatts of data-center capacity by 2032, while capital expenditures are already elevated and expected to rise again. Investors are concerned that returns from AI infrastructure may take time to materialize. Microsoft AI spending analysis
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution concerns persist: Federal agencies can begin contracting for Microsoft’s new AI government tier on October 1, but some features may not be available immediately. The gap between commitments and delivery could slow adoption or raise questions about execution. Microsoft government AI tier
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a modest headwind: EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares worth approximately $20.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the transaction was scheduled in advance, it is not necessarily a bearish signal, but it may weigh marginally on sentiment.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $490.30 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $462.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $421.53. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The company 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 previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price objective on Microsoft in a report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group set a $525.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Argus dropped their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $564.27.

About Microsoft

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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