Securian Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management reduced its Microsoft stake by 2% in the second quarter, selling 4,050 shares and retaining 197,396 shares worth approximately $77.7 million. Microsoft remains 2.8% of the fund’s portfolio and its sixth-largest holding.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while insiders have sold 143,009 shares worth about $71.4 million over the past 90 days, including sales by executives Amy Hood and Judson Althoff.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% year over year, and raised its quarterly dividend 8% to $0.98. Analysts maintain a broadly positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $564.27.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,396 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,050 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.8% of Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $77,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Microsoft by 4.0% in the second quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 229,490 shares of the software giant's stock worth $85,604,000 after buying an additional 8,773 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $199,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 8.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 6,921,677 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,562,197,000 after purchasing an additional 537,634 shares during the last quarter. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $2,616,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in Microsoft by 138.8% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 1,356,359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $502,077,000 after purchasing an additional 788,297 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure and AI businesses remain the primary bullish catalysts. Analysts point to accelerating cloud growth, broad enterprise adoption and Microsoft’s distribution advantage through Azure, Microsoft 365 and Copilot. These Magnificent Seven Members Still Look Cheap
• Positive Sentiment: Causaly expanded its collaboration with Microsoft, making its agentic scientific-research tools available within Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365 and Teams. The deal supports Microsoft’s strategy of adding specialized AI workflows to its enterprise software ecosystem. Causaly is Now Available in Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s 8% quarterly dividend increase reinforces its strong cash generation and provides shareholder support, although the company continues to invest heavily in cloud and AI infrastructure. Microsoft Slips as Its Quarterly Dividend Climbs 8%
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman called recent reports of concerning model behavior at OpenAI a “serious situation” and emphasized the need for controllable, human-aligned AI. The comments highlight Microsoft’s safety focus but also underscore reputational and product-liability risks across the sector. OpenAI's latest AI revelation is a serious situation
• Negative Sentiment: Unsealed filings reportedly include Microsoft and OpenAI employees’ concerns that AI training on millions of news articles could amount to the “largest theft of labor in human history.” The disclosures may weaken the companies’ fair-use defense and increase potential litigation, licensing and regulatory costs. OpenAI, Microsoft executives' quotes on AI training threaten copyright defense
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of insider selling added to near-term sentiment pressure, while Microsoft faces competitive challenges from Salesforce’s AIforce and ongoing debate over whether its substantial AI spending will generate adequate returns. Microsoft Trading Down After Insider Selling

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $564.27.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $493.78 on Monday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $466.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $422.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.83%.

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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