Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC Purchases 9,873 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Safeguard Investment Advisory Group acquired 9,873 Microsoft shares worth approximately $3.68 million, making Microsoft its 15th-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 42 Buy ratings, four Holds and two Sells; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $589.71 price target, despite divergent recent upgrades and downgrades.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and EPS exceeding estimates, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. Shares opened at $529.05, near their 52-week high of $553.72.

Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,873 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,683,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.9% of Safeguard Investment Advisory Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ally Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $35,437,000. Winmill & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $289,000. ICONIQ Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $915,000. Meritage Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $476,963,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,885,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Microsoft from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $512.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Evercore raised shares of Microsoft from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $589.71.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were 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 directly owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company'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 transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $529.05 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $505.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $440.59. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10.

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. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company 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 business posted $3.65 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Microsoft to remain the only major hyperscaler with positive free cash flow over the next year despite heavy AI investment. This reinforces confidence that the company can fund data-center expansion without substantial external financing. Microsoft Free Cash Flow Expected to Remain Positive
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement with NiSource for approximately 1,100 megawatts of power for an Indiana data-center campus beginning in 2028. Securing electricity supports future Azure capacity as grid constraints become a bottleneck for AI expansion. Microsoft Signs Power Deal With NiSource
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom Maia AI chips and reports that a new model achieved comparable or better performance than OpenAI’s system using a fraction of the computing power could eventually reduce reliance on expensive third-party GPUs and improve AI economics. Microsoft Wants to Make AI Cheaper
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on Azure growth, Copilot adoption, AI monetization and capital expenditures ahead of earnings. Strong demand could support the shares, but the market wants evidence that revenue growth is translating into sustainable margins.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Microsoft’s grip on business software and says Microsoft and Amazon Web Services may need to do more to address cloud-service barriers. Potential remedies could increase compliance costs or weaken customer-lock-in advantages. UK Regulator Targets Microsoft’s Business Software Grip
• Negative Sentiment: Questions remain over whether custom chips will deliver meaningful savings: AI infrastructure, power and data-center commitments are rising rapidly, while Microsoft is reportedly seeking substantial cost reductions in Azure. That creates concern about near-term free-cash-flow and margin pressure.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company's principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.

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