2,300,016 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,300,016 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $857,952,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.5% of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

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

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $675 from $525 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing accelerating Azure and Microsoft 365 growth driven by artificial intelligence. The firm believes Microsoft’s valuation remains reasonable despite its recent rally. UBS raises Microsoft price target
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms have lifted their targets, with analysts highlighting Azure momentum, approximately 30 million Copilot seats, Microsoft’s commercial backlog and the potential for a larger-than-usual earnings beat. The October 28 results will provide an important test of whether AI spending is translating into revenue and profit.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Maia 300 custom AI accelerator is expected to scale across Azure data centers and reportedly deliver more tokens per megawatt than conventional GPU systems. The chip could reduce inference costs and Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia and AMD hardware. Microsoft Maia 300 AI chip
• Positive Sentiment: AI care-management company Tucuvi joined Microsoft’s Pegasus startup program, potentially expanding Microsoft’s enterprise AI pipeline and go-to-market reach in healthcare. Microsoft also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91, signaling continued confidence in cash generation. Tucuvi joins Microsoft Pegasus Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Azure management is seeking roughly 20% cost reductions could improve efficiency and margins, but also underscore the pressure created by Microsoft’s substantial AI data-center investments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s $10 million contribution to a White House ballroom project is unlikely to affect near-term financial results, though it could attract political or reputational scrutiny. Microsoft White House ballroom contribution
• Negative Sentiment: Higher inflation and bond yields have pressured AI valuations and raised concerns about the financing cost and returns of large infrastructure projects. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet makes it less vulnerable than smaller AI companies, but valuation sensitivity remains a risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to Hold, while reports of security vulnerabilities, executive share sales and intense competition from rapidly growing AI companies add caution. Amy Hood’s sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.71.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%

Microsoft stock opened at $539.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $553.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $504.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $439.96.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft’s productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.