Waverly Advisors LLC Purchases 129,313 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Waverly Advisors increased its Microsoft position by 23.1% in the second quarter, purchasing 129,313 additional shares for a total of 689,804 shares valued at approximately $257.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: 42 analysts rate the stock a Buy and five rate it a Hold, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $564.27.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, both ahead of expectations, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend 8% to $0.98 per share, though elevated AI infrastructure spending and execution concerns remain potential headwinds.

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 23.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 689,804 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 129,313 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of Waverly Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $257,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $27,338,370,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 64,375,360 shares of the software giant's stock worth $24,013,297,000 after acquiring an additional 543,172 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $18,306,443,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $564.27.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend raised 8%: Microsoft increased its quarterly payout from $0.91 to $0.98 per share, payable December 10 to shareholders of record November 19. The increase signals confidence in cash generation and brings the annualized yield to approximately 0.8%, while the payout ratio remains near 20%. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend increase
• Positive Sentiment: Azure momentum remains a key catalyst: Azure revenue growth accelerated to 43% year over year in the latest quarter, with management expecting another acceleration. Azure has also surpassed $100 billion in annual sales, reinforcing the investment case for Microsoft’s cloud and agentic-AI strategy. Microsoft Azure agentic AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise AI ecosystem is expanding: Dun & Bradstreet is integrating its commercial data graph with Microsoft Copilot Studio and Dynamics 365 agents, potentially supporting broader enterprise adoption of Microsoft’s AI tools. Dun and Bradstreet Microsoft Copilot integration
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming product and reporting updates: Microsoft’s October 7 Windows and Surface event could provide a hardware and on-device AI catalyst. Separately, plans to disclose Azure revenue should give investors greater visibility into whether AI spending is translating into sales. Microsoft Windows and Surface event
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending is the main overhang: Microsoft is reportedly targeting roughly 38 gigawatts of data-center capacity by 2032, while capital expenditures are already elevated and expected to rise again. Investors are concerned that returns from AI infrastructure may take time to materialize. Microsoft AI spending analysis
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution concerns persist: Federal agencies can begin contracting for Microsoft’s new AI government tier on October 1, but some features may not be available immediately. The gap between commitments and delivery could slow adoption or raise questions about execution. Microsoft government AI tier
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling adds a modest headwind: EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares worth approximately $20.8 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the transaction was scheduled in advance, it is not necessarily a bearish signal, but it may weigh marginally on sentiment.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $490.30 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. 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 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The company's fifty day moving average price is $462.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $421.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 143,009 shares of company stock worth $71,420,699 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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