Sawyer & Company Inc Has $12.07 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Sawyer & Company increased its Microsoft stake by 14.8% in the second quarter to 32,358 shares valued at approximately $12.07 million, making Microsoft 4.1% of its portfolio and its sixth-largest holding.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with $4.74 in earnings per share and $90.01 billion in revenue, both above analyst estimates. Analysts maintain a broadly positive view, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $567.07.
• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, while insiders—including CEOs Satya Nadella and Judson Althoff—sold shares worth more than $71 million over the past 90 days. Investors remain focused on AI growth and Azure pricing, alongside concerns about high capital spending, regulation and valuation.

Sawyer & Company Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,358 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,178 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.1% of Sawyer & Company Inc's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Sawyer & Company Inc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $101,000. Ramsey Quantitative Systems bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.6% during the first quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC now owns 422 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher Azure prices could support growth and margins. BNP Paribas said Microsoft may gain another growth lever as higher Azure prices are introduced to renewing customers, assigning a $549 price target. Microsoft’s Azure Has Another Growth Lever Waiting in the Wings, Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their outlooks on AI demand. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its Microsoft price target from $522 to $608 and maintained an overweight rating, citing opportunities in AI and cybersecurity. Erste Group also raised its earnings estimates. Cantor Fitzgerald Raises Microsoft Price Target to $608
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure demand remains substantial. Microsoft and Anthropic reportedly represent $87.7 billion of the $103 billion contract backlog at AI infrastructure provider Nscale, highlighting the scale of enterprise AI spending and potential Azure demand. Microsoft and Anthropic dominate Nscale’s contract backlog
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder-return and valuation support added to the bullish case. Bill Ackman described Microsoft as a core holding after building a roughly $2.4 billion position, while Microsoft’s dividend increase and strong software franchise were cited as additional attractions.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is adding a fourth cloud region in Hyderabad, improving geographic resilience, although the company provided no site-level capacity or investment details. Satya Nadella’s expected attendance at a Trump-Xi state dinner could provide diplomatic visibility but has limited direct financial impact.
• Negative Sentiment: Copyright and AI-regulation concerns remain overhangs. Publisher testimony in ongoing copyright disputes has intensified questions about whether AI products substitute for original content. Microsoft executives have also warned that divergent AI rules could affect industry economics. Microsoft Slips as AI Testimony Sharpens Copyright Risk
• Negative Sentiment: New gaming-advertising initiatives generated investor skepticism. A patent covering contextual in-game advertisements raised concerns about user experience and monetization strategy. Microsoft Stock Slips on Xbox Patent for Ads in Video Games
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are weighing elevated AI capital spending, cloud-security concerns following the Hugging Face incident and the possibility that expectations are already priced in after Microsoft’s powerful summer advance. Redburn’s lower $440 target underscores the disagreement over valuation.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.6%

MSFT opened at $501.61 on Tuesday. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $469.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $423.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company 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%. The firm's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Tigress Financial lifted 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. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $567.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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