Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Sold by Advisor OS LLC

Key Points

• Advisor OS LLC reduced its Microsoft position by 13.9% in the second quarter, selling 5,968 shares and retaining 37,002 shares valued at approximately $13.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, with revenue up 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, implying a 0.8% yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains strongly positive, with 43 Buy ratings and an average price target of $571.18, although insiders sold roughly $71.4 million of stock over the past quarter. Microsoft’s shares opened at $517.53, near their 52-week high of $553.72.

Advisor OS LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,002 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,968 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.9% of Advisor OS LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Advisor OS LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $101,000. Finally, Glynn Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34.2% during the second quarter. Glynn Capital Management LLC now owns 255 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $517.53 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $490.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $429.97. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total value of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $522.00 to $608.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Evercore set a $528.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $571.18.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI demand remain the primary catalyst. Investor data and analyst commentary point to accelerating Azure demand, while Microsoft’s recent earnings showed its fastest cloud growth in four years. The improving demand is helping ease concerns that the company’s substantial AI infrastructure spending will not generate adequate returns. Ca$htag: MSFT Azure Cloud Drives Soaring Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo added Microsoft to its Q4 Tactical Ideas list and raised its price target to $725, citing Azure’s growth potential and the prospect of improved AI monetization through Copilot. The action adds to a series of bullish analyst revisions; one report noted that 52 analysts covering Microsoft currently have no sell ratings. With Azure as a Catalyst, Microsoft Is Positioned for Sustained Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship provides potential additional value. Investors are increasingly focused on Microsoft’s stake and commercial partnership with OpenAI, particularly ahead of a possible OpenAI initial public offering that could provide a market reference for the investment. OpenAI’s Future IPO Keeps Me Buying Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft introduced new real-time AI speech models for customer-service agents, multilingual assistants and voice interfaces. The products broaden Microsoft’s enterprise AI offering and could support additional cloud consumption and software revenue. Microsoft Targets Contact Center Market With Real-Time AI Voice Models
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are awaiting Microsoft’s October 7 Surface and Windows event. New hardware or Windows updates could support the ecosystem, although the event has not yet produced a material earnings catalyst. Microsoft Stock Notches Up Ahead of the Surface Show
• Negative Sentiment: Risks include heavy AI capital spending, valuation concerns and broader market concentration. Critics argue that rising data-center capacity could pressure compute pricing and returns, while strategists warn that a market correction could disproportionately affect megacap technology stocks. Microsoft’s dividend remains affordable, but AI infrastructure spending and lease commitments could limit future dividend growth. Morgan Stanley Strategist Sees Market Drawdown Potential

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft's productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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