Osprey Private Wealth LLC Grows Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Osprey Private Wealth increased its Microsoft stake by 14.3% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 39,269 shares valued at approximately $14.65 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, beating analysts’ expectations. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 43 Buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, although executives Amy Hood and Satya Nadella sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans. Investors continue to weigh Microsoft’s AI growth prospects against heavy infrastructure spending and potential margin pressure.

Osprey Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,269 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,917 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.8% of Osprey Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Osprey Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after purchasing an additional 9,814,598 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,300,410 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,235,785,000 after purchasing an additional 458,014 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,852,884,000 after buying an additional 2,784,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 22,138,798 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,715,379,000 after buying an additional 1,599,412 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. CLSA reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $569.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $516.17 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $477.93 and a 200-day moving average of $426.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Key Microsoft News

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 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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