Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Titleist Asset Management LLC

Titleist Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,966 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Titleist Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 62,525 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,069,000 after acquiring an additional 4,670 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 74,090 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $38,001,000 after acquiring an additional 2,510 shares during the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 25.5% in the third quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 13,373 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,382 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,838,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plan A Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the third quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 7,187 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,686,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Northern Trust introduced an AI-powered client-onboarding agent running on Microsoft Azure, with Excel and SharePoint integration. The reported reductions in data-preparation time and strong data-quality results illustrate potential enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI tools. Microsoft stock and Northern Trust AI agent
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly becoming more selective about outside AI data-center and neocloud arrangements, including not renewing a cloud contract involving Oracle. Tighter spending could support cash flow, but changes to its infrastructure plans may also raise questions about capacity and execution. Microsoft AI data-center deals
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment remains a key risk: one report said Microsoft’s free cash flow over the last four quarters was about 23% below the prior-year period, amid rising infrastructure spending. A large reported backlog signals demand, but investors will look for that spending to translate into returns. Microsoft backlog, AI capex and neocloud ties
• Negative Sentiment: B&D White Capital, a fund with roughly $1.03 billion in assets, reported selling all its Microsoft shares in the third quarter. The filing is backward-looking and does not establish the fund’s reason for selling, but it may add to near-term sentiment concerns. B&D White Capital share sale

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up from $610.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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, 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 135,504 shares of company stock valued at $68,138,024 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.7%

MSFT opened at $545.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $517.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $440.69. The company has a market cap of $4.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.05. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $559.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 31.28%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.00%.

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. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.

Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, GitHub, Surface devices, and Xbox gaming products and services. Microsoft also provides business software, cybersecurity tools, and artificial intelligence technologies.

Microsoft serves customers around the world through its products, online platforms, and network of business partners.