Stuart Investment Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Stuart Investment Advisors cut its Microsoft stake by 39.3% in the second quarter, selling 1,034 shares and retaining 1,598 shares worth approximately $596,000.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock; several firms increased their positions during the quarter.
• Microsoft’s outlook remains broadly positive, supported by Azure and AI demand, strong quarterly results, and a “Moderate Buy” analyst consensus, though elevated AI spending, valuation concerns, and recent insider selling remain risks.

Stuart Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,598 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,034 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.2% of Stuart Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Stuart Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the second quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,329 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,210,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. TFR Capital LLC. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 5.1% in the second quarter. TFR Capital LLC. now owns 42,258 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,763,000 after acquiring an additional 2,048 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,358 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,102,000 after buying an additional 784 shares during the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.5% during the second quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,534 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,421,000 after acquiring an additional 4,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Libra Wealth LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Libra Wealth LLC now owns 11,520 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,297,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Raymond James Financial cut Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $571.18.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $517.53 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $490.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $430.19. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share 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 represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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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