Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Bought by Freedom Day Solutions LLC

Key Points

• Institutional investors increased their Microsoft holdings: Freedom Day Solutions raised its stake by 23.5% to 17,025 shares, while hedge funds and other institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Microsoft delivered strong quarterly results: Earnings per share came in at $4.74 versus the $4.24 consensus, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, supported by Azure and AI growth: Stifel upgraded Microsoft to Buy and raised its price target to $575, while the analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $569.29 target. Azure demand, AI infrastructure investment and Copilot growth remain key catalysts.

Freedom Day Solutions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 23.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,025 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.4% of Freedom Day Solutions LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Freedom Day Solutions LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Microsoft by 4.0% during the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $85,604,000 after purchasing an additional 8,773 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock worth $199,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after purchasing an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 138.8% during the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $502,077,000 after buying an additional 788,297 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5%

MSFT stock opened at $497.93 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The firm's 50-day moving average is $475.48 and its 200 day moving average is $425.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change 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%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is increasing. Stifel upgraded Microsoft to Buy from Hold and raised its price target to $575, citing Azure and Copilot growth, durable margins, and a path for AI spending to produce stronger revenue. Jefferies also reaffirmed its Buy rating, while other analysts highlighted potential upside. Why These Wall Street Analysts Think Microsoft Stock Is Getting Back on Track
• Positive Sentiment: Azure demand remains the central growth catalyst. Reports point to a roughly $678 billion backlog and the need for Microsoft to add data-center capacity quickly enough to serve existing customers. Azure Red Hat OpenShift for Azure Government also received DoD Impact Level 5 certification, expanding its use among government and highly regulated customers. Azure Red Hat OpenShift Achieves IL5 Certification
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding its AI infrastructure footprint. The company plans to invest more than $10 billion in Gulf-region cloud, AI, connectivity and cybersecurity infrastructure through 2030, potentially supporting long-term regional demand. Microsoft Plans Gulf Investment

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $530.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, 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. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $569.29.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 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 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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.