Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Cut by Strive Financial Group LLC

Strive Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,697 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,957 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.2% of Strive Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Strive Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial increased its holdings in Microsoft by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Sequent Planning LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the first quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 21st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Forty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $592.15.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

MSFT opened at $531.87 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $506.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $443.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $302,924,086.32. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 firm’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 owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism and earnings expectations: BMO Capital raised its Microsoft price target to $600 while maintaining an Outperform rating, citing potential upside for Azure. Bernstein also reiterated Outperform and lifted its target to $662. Analysts expect Microsoft’s Oct. 28 results to benefit from Azure demand and expanding enterprise AI adoption. Boeing and Microsoft AI platform article
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud growth remain the core bull case: Commentary points to robust Azure infrastructure demand, commercial customer commitments and Microsoft’s ability to monetize AI across enterprise markets. Its new Maia AI chips could eventually reduce reliance on outside processors and lower inference costs, although execution remains important. Microsoft Q1 outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Xbox and industry partnerships: Microsoft plans next-generation Xbox consoles and handheld devices for the 2027–2028 holiday seasons. Separately, its partnership with AMD is intended to improve Xbox performance, while Boeing’s new Dataliner aircraft-data platform uses Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and could support enterprise cloud adoption. Next-generation Xbox article
• Neutral Sentiment: Tokenized-stock objection: Microsoft joined Alphabet and Goldman Sachs in objecting to having its shares listed on a proposed OKX-ICE tokenized-stock platform. The move may limit potential trading exposure but does not directly affect operating results. Tokenized stocks article
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. AI data-center withdrawal: Microsoft withdrew as anchor tenant from Nscale’s planned Loughton, Essex, facility because grid-connection delays threatened the power supply. The decision highlights electricity and permitting constraints that could slow Azure capacity expansion and increase infrastructure costs. Microsoft U.K. data-center withdrawal
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and execution pressure: Britain’s competition watchdog is considering strategic-market-status rules for Microsoft’s business software, potentially increasing compliance requirements. Investors are also watching whether very large AI capital expenditures generate sufficient revenue and cash flow to justify the spending. U.K. regulation article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI-stock weakness: A selloff across AI-related equities and concerns about financing, power availability and uncertain returns are weighing on large technology stocks, including Microsoft. The company’s elevated valuation leaves less room for disappointment if Azure growth or earnings guidance falls short.

Microsoft Company 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.