Veratis Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,215 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Veratis Advisors acquired 2,215 Microsoft shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $826,000, making Microsoft 0.6% of its portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue grew 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, or $3.92 annually.
• Wall Street’s consensus rating remains “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of $589.71, though analysts are weighing strong AI and Azure prospects against rising infrastructure costs, margin pressures and potential regulatory scrutiny.

Veratis Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,215 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $826,000. Microsoft accounts for 0.6% of Veratis Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $529.05 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $505.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $441.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 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 paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were 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 directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Wolfe Research downgraded Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $512.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $589.71.

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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