Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Lifted by Ballast Inc.

Key Points

• Ballast Inc. increased its Microsoft stake by 7% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 18,334 shares valued at approximately $6.84 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, while analysts remain optimistic about Azure growth and Copilot monetization ahead of the company’s October 28 earnings report.
• Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees to reduce costs and redirect resources toward artificial intelligence and data centers. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, up from $0.91.

Ballast Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,334 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.3% of Ballast Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Ballast Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Markel Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $199,014,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 8.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after buying an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its position in Microsoft by 138.8% in the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $502,077,000 after acquiring an additional 788,297 shares during the period. Hamilton Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 16.8% in the first quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 68,212 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,250,000 after acquiring an additional 9,802 shares during the period. Finally, Decker Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter worth approximately $8,530,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to approximately 60,000 employees in the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K. The program is aimed at reducing costs and reallocating resources toward artificial intelligence, data centers and other strategic priorities. Investors appear to view the move as a way to help offset the company’s substantial AI infrastructure spending. Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their price targets ahead of earnings. Oppenheimer lifted its target to $625 from $570, while Truist raised its target to $600 from $575 and maintained a Buy rating, citing resilient Azure growth and strong enterprise demand. Oppenheimer raises Microsoft target ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street expects continued momentum in Azure and Copilot monetization. Microsoft reports fiscal first-quarter results on October 28, making cloud growth, AI demand and spending efficiency important near-term catalysts. Microsoft stock gains as Wall Street sees Azure growth

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $532.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $508.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $437.18. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The company's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. CLSA reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $594.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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