Strive Financial Group LLC Sells 2,957 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Strive Financial Group LLC cut its Microsoft stake by 23.4% in the second quarter, selling 2,957 shares and retaining 9,697 shares valued at approximately $3.62 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong fiscal first-quarter results, with revenue up 18.8% year over year to $92.28 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.89 per share; Azure revenue rose 48% to about $33.2 billion, highlighting continued AI-driven cloud demand.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 45 Buy ratings and five Holds and a consensus price target of $609.54, although concerns persist over elevated AI spending, planned bond issuance, and revenue concentration linked to OpenAI.

Strive Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 23.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,697 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,957 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.6% of Strive Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Strive Financial Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 72.2% in the second quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 17,515 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,534,000 after buying an additional 7,343 shares during the period. River Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 88,060 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,848,000 after buying an additional 3,755 shares during the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 51,587 shares of the software giant's stock worth $19,042,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 21,223 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,917,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 19,471 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported fiscal Q1 revenue of $92.28 billion and adjusted earnings of $4.89 per share, exceeding analyst estimates. Revenue grew 18.8% year over year, while Azure revenue surged 48% to approximately $33.2 billion, reinforcing the company’s position as a leading beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption. Microsoft beats quarterly cloud revenue estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cloud growth, a $677 billion commercial backlog and expanding Copilot and AI-agent adoption have prompted several analysts to raise their price targets, including Citigroup’s $680 target and RBC’s $640 target. Microsoft stock slips despite strong Azure growth
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft generated approximately $18.6 billion in free cash flow, giving it substantially more flexibility than some rivals to fund AI investments without relying exclusively on debt. Analysts argue that the spending should be judged against the company’s cash generation and monetization potential. Microsoft Q1 capex and free cash flow
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is broadening Copilot distribution through education and finance-workflow integrations, while its AI-agent governance tools are attracting interest from major developers. These moves support the case for multiple long-term AI revenue streams. Microsoft expands Copilot in education
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft plans to issue as much as $25 billion in bonds, its first major U.S. bond sale since 2017, to support data-center and AI investment. Strong demand for the offering highlights investor confidence, but the borrowing also focuses attention on the scale of future capital requirements. Microsoft expects to raise $25 billion in bond sale
• Negative Sentiment: Capital expenditures came in below expectations, and Microsoft reduced its forecast to roughly $170 billion from $175 billion. Management attributed the shortfall to third-party chip and data-center capacity delays, but investors remain concerned that elevated spending may pressure returns and margins. AI buildout capex estimates
• Negative Sentiment: About $10 billion of quarterly revenue was tied to commercial arrangements with OpenAI, or nearly 11% of total revenue, increasing concentration and counterparty-risk concerns as the companies increasingly compete in AI services. Microsoft recorded $10 billion in revenue from OpenAI

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group set a $700.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research cut shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Forty-five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.54.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $530.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $551.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $512.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $438.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 41.17%. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

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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