Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by RBA Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• RBA Wealth Management reduced its Microsoft position by 13% in the second quarter, selling 2,562 shares and retaining 17,220 shares valued at approximately $6.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analyst sentiment remains strongly positive: 43 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $569.29. Recent upgrades cited Azure, Copilot and artificial-intelligence growth.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, with revenue up 17.7% year over year, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. However, insiders have sold roughly $71.4 million of stock over the past 90 days, while gaming restructuring and high AI infrastructure costs remain concerns.

RBA Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,220 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,562 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.4% of RBA Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. RBA Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $101,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $112,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC now owns 422 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore set a $528.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Forty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $569.29.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stifel upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $575 from $530. The analyst expects Azure, Copilot and other AI services to accelerate revenue while Microsoft maintains resilient margins without needing excessive spending on AI models. Microsoft upgraded as analyst sees steady margins
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft plans to invest more than $10 billion in the Gulf through 2030, funding cloud and AI infrastructure, cybersecurity, connectivity and workforce development across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. The spending expands Azure’s international capacity and could create long-term commercial opportunities. Microsoft plans Gulf investment
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization remains the central bullish thesis. Microsoft is pursuing broader Copilot adoption, including discounts of roughly 30% to 50% for large enterprise customers, while management highlights independent AI safety evaluators and software that controls AI agents as emerging opportunities. Microsoft plans larger Copilot discounts
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft and Coinbase disrupted an AI-enabled phishing network, reinforcing Microsoft’s cybersecurity credentials. However, the operation does not eliminate the persistent economic incentive for criminals to compromise accounts. Microsoft cuts AI phishing supply chain
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s collaboration with Photonic on quantum-computing resource estimation and its decision to give DARPA access to its Majorana 2 system enhance its technology and government relationships, but these projects are unlikely to affect near-term earnings. Microsoft opens quantum system to DARPA testing
• Negative Sentiment: Xbox is cutting 268 positions and transferring the next Halo game to Activision as part of a gaming restructuring. The move may improve efficiency but raises concerns about Microsoft’s gaming execution and follows recent layoffs. Microsoft cuts Xbox roles
• Negative Sentiment: Broader technology stocks weakened, while scrutiny of data-center water consumption and Microsoft’s heavy AI infrastructure spending adds to concerns about costs, regulation and execution.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $500.59 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company's fifty day moving average price is $473.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $424.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.83%.

Microsoft Company 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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