Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Lessened by SPWM Advisors LLC

Key Points

• SPWM Advisors cut its Microsoft stake by 16.3% in the second quarter, leaving the fund with 6,738 shares valued at $2.65 million. Other institutions increased their holdings, and institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft insiders sold $71.4 million worth of shares over the past 90 days, including CEO Satya Nadella’s sale of 86,525 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with 43 Buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating alongside a $569.29 target price. Microsoft’s AI-focused Copilot strategy, strong quarterly earnings, and dividend increase support the outlook, although heavy AI infrastructure spending and margin pressure remain risks.

SPWM Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,738 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,312 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.5% of SPWM Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. SPWM Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SWP Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 33.4% in the second quarter. SWP Financial LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the software giant's stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 23,516 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,772,000 after purchasing an additional 3,994 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 1,875 shares of the software giant's stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Udine Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Udine Wealth Management Inc. now owns 49,241 shares of the software giant's stock worth $18,368,000 after buying an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Finally, BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC now owns 14,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,525,000 after buying an additional 1,720 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following 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 through the SEC website. Also, 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 value 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 position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. CLSA reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 21st. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $569.29.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled a redesigned Copilot “super app” that combines access to Office applications with coding tools, autonomous AI agents and an Autopilot feature. The initiative is aimed primarily at business users and could improve enterprise adoption, usage and monetization of Microsoft’s AI offerings. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer raised its Microsoft price target to $570, citing the company’s shift toward enterprise AI agents and a billing model tied more closely to customer usage. Other recent analyst targets have also moved higher, reinforcing expectations for sustained Azure and AI growth. Oppenheimer target article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors appear more confident that Microsoft can benefit from AI without depending on a single large-model provider. Its Azure cloud platform, Microsoft 365 ecosystem and enterprise distribution provide multiple avenues for converting AI investment into recurring revenue. MarketWatch article
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy bullish options activity, including a large call spread, suggests traders are positioning for additional upside. Technical analysts identified a potential move toward approximately $555, although this is market positioning rather than a fundamental forecast. Barchart options article
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market gains, led by AI stocks, provided an additional tailwind. However, elevated oil prices, Treasury yields and uncertainty over potential Federal Reserve policy changes remain important macroeconomic risks.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is moving away from a consumer-focused personal-assistant strategy and concentrating Copilot on workplace use. The usage-based approach could unlock greater revenue, but it may also make sales less predictable than traditional subscriptions if customer adoption is slower than expected. Financial Post article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to monitor Microsoft’s substantial AI infrastructure spending, data-center capacity constraints and a reported 277-job reduction in Washington. These factors could pressure near-term margins even as Azure demand remains strong.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $516.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $477.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.17. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis 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 is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft 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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