Fluent Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 14,386 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Fluent Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 14,386 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $5,366,000. Microsoft comprises about 1.9% of Fluent Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the second quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,740,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $9,252,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. now owns 786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Corepath Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Corepath Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $526,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 14,457 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,393,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Dbs Bank decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $491.71 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $423.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $410.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure backlog supports visibility. Microsoft’s commercial backlog reportedly reached approximately $678 billion, suggesting substantial future cloud revenue and helping the stock outperform during a broader technology-sector selloff. Microsoft Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Defies Tech Selloff
• Positive Sentiment: AI demand is strengthening Microsoft’s enterprise moat. Analysts and investors point to Azure, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the company’s broad enterprise ecosystem as advantages that could support continued AI monetization. Microsoft’s stock has gained about 28% over the past month, substantially outperforming the technology-sector ETF cited in the coverage. Most Investors Overlook MSFT’s AI Moat
• Positive Sentiment: Meta Platforms is becoming a major Microsoft customer. Meta’s growing reliance on Microsoft’s infrastructure for AI could increase Azure demand and provide additional validation of Microsoft’s cloud platform. Meta Platforms Is Now One of Microsoft’s Biggest Customers
• Positive Sentiment: Data-center expansion and partnerships add incremental support. Microsoft is expanding capacity to meet AI demand, while new customer, sports, and business partnerships reinforce its cloud and AI ecosystem. These developments are strategically favorable but are unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings on their own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical and momentum coverage remains favorable. Several reports describe MSFT as a top-ranked momentum or rebound candidate, but these are largely investment-screening and opinion-based articles rather than new fundamental announcements. MSFT, ORCL and INTC Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Capital intensity is the principal concern. Coverage highlights sharply lower free cash flow as Microsoft invests heavily in AI infrastructure and data centers. The rally toward the $600 level may depend on whether the next earnings report shows that booked demand is converting into revenue quickly enough to offset margin and cash-flow pressure. What Would It Take to Get MSFT Stock Up to $600?
• Negative Sentiment: Short-interest data provides no useful signal. The reported figures show zero shares sold short both currently and previously, with a zero-day short-interest ratio, indicating a likely data-quality issue rather than a meaningful change in investor positioning.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).