Webster Bank N. A. Has $25.79 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Webster Bank N.A. reduced its Microsoft position by 2.3% in the second quarter, selling 1,628 shares and retaining 69,129 shares valued at approximately $25.79 million.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while analysts maintain a generally positive outlook: 42 rate the stock a Buy and five rate it a Hold, with a consensus price target of $564.27.
• Microsoft’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with $4.74 in earnings per share and $90.01 billion in revenue, representing 17.7% year-over-year growth; however, insiders have sold roughly $50.7 million of stock over the past three months.

Webster Bank N. A. reduced its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,129 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,628 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.2% of Webster Bank N. A.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Webster Bank N. A.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $35,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $124,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Monday, August 10th. Argus dropped their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $564.27.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft published a 37-page draft code of conduct for its in-house AI models, emphasizing that advanced AI should remain under meaningful human control and should not deceive people, resist shutdown, or hack systems. Investors appeared to interpret the framework as a way to address regulatory and reputational risks while supporting enterprise adoption. Microsoft drafts code of conduct to keep its AI under human control
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman called for greater coordination among leading AI companies, including third-party disclosure of model capabilities. The move may help Microsoft position itself as a responsible AI leader as safety concerns and potential regulation intensify. Microsoft AI chief: Now’s the time for top labs to coordinate on safety
• Positive Sentiment: Investor commentary remains supportive of Microsoft’s fundamentals, citing Azure growth, more than $100 billion in annual Azure revenue, strong Copilot adoption, and a large cloud backlog. Bank of America reportedly raised its price target to $600, while other analysts maintain Buy or Outperform ratings.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is one of the few major hyperscalers still maintaining share repurchases while expanding AI infrastructure, potentially supporting per-share earnings if cash generation remains strong. The End of Big Tech Buybacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft plans a substantial expansion of global data-center capacity to meet AI and cloud demand. The investment reinforces long-term growth prospects, but returns will depend on converting heavy spending on power, land, and computing equipment into durable revenue and margins. Microsoft to triple data centre capacity
• Negative Sentiment: Chipmaker weakness, rising Treasury yields, and concerns that AI development may need to slow pressured the wider technology sector. These factors could weigh on Microsoft’s valuation despite its relative strength and defensive enterprise-software exposure. S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Drop on Chipmaker Weakness

Microsoft Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $505.41 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $458.23 and a 200-day moving average of $420.22. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,335 shares of company stock worth $50,655,795. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

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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