Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC Grows Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group increased its Microsoft stake by 11.4% in the second quarter to 77,395 shares valued at approximately $28.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analyst sentiment remains strongly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $571.18, despite one recent downgrade to “Strong Sell.” Microsoft also reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, exceeding estimates.
• Microsoft’s Azure and AI growth are key catalysts, while risks include heavy AI infrastructure spending, valuation concerns and market concentration. The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98, although insiders sold roughly $71.4 million of stock over the past three months.

Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,395 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.4% of Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Friedenthal Financial lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% in the first quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Planning LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,052,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. American Investment Services Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% during the first quarter. American Investment Services Inc. now owns 876 shares of the software giant's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, September 21st. CLSA restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating 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, September 23rd. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $571.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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 Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $517.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $490.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $429.97. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.10. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft's 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is an increase 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 currently 20.27%.

Microsoft 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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