Walter Public Investments Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Walter Public Investments reduced its Microsoft stake by 17% in the second quarter, selling 6,417 shares and retaining 31,239 shares valued at approximately $11.65 million.
• Microsoft insiders sold 143,009 shares worth $71.4 million during the latest quarter, including sales by CEO Satya Nadella and EVP Amy Hood under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue rising 17.7% year over year, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a $571.18 price target.

Walter Public Investments Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,239 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,417 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.8% of Walter Public Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Walter Public Investments Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the second quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 286,452 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $106,852,000 after purchasing an additional 9,111 shares during the last quarter. Innovative Asset Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Innovative Asset Advisors Group LLC now owns 18,452 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,883,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 49.8% during the 2nd quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 33,820 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,616,000 after buying an additional 11,242 shares in the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 90,145 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $33,626,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ now owns 7,913 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,952,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. 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, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $517.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $490.08 and a 200-day moving average of $429.97. 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for 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%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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 positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 20.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Microsoft from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Forty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $571.18.

More Microsoft News

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

Microsoft Company Profile

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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