Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Vulcan Value Partners LLC

Vulcan Value Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 986,905 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 122,086 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 11.2% of Vulcan Value Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Vulcan Value Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $368,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 1,957,446 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $730,167,000 after purchasing an additional 22,923 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.1% during the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 689,804 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $257,311,000 after purchasing an additional 129,313 shares in the last quarter. Bank OZK boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. Bank OZK now owns 28,250 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. Lipe & Dalton grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lipe & Dalton now owns 5,653 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,109,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 254,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $94,906,000 after buying an additional 8,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 145,504 shares of company stock valued at $73,016,924 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $507.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $513.39 and a 200-day moving average of $438.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $551.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $92.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 41.17% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.46%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI demand remain the key bullish catalysts. Recent coverage highlights Azure revenue growth of 48%, above Microsoft’s 44%–45% forecast, with demand reportedly exceeding available capacity. Strong cloud growth, expanding Copilot adoption, and a reported $677 billion contract backlog support the view that Microsoft can monetize its AI investments. Microsoft Delivers Strong Azure Growth as AI Demand Exceeds Supply
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and long-term investors continue to favor Microsoft’s scale and financial quality. Commentary points to Microsoft’s high-margin Azure platform, OpenAI partnership, prudent infrastructure expansion, and durable competitive position. Bill Ackman and other investors continue to view MSFT as a long-term compounder, while Microsoft’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations with revenue up 18.8% year over year to $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89. Microsoft’s Prudent Approach to the AI Infrastructure Buildout
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding enterprise AI relationships. Estée Lauder selected Microsoft’s cloud, data, and AI tools to unify data and support personalized customer experiences. The deal reinforces Azure’s enterprise relevance, although its financial contribution to Microsoft was not disclosed. Estée Lauder Partners With Microsoft on AI and Data Tools
• Negative Sentiment: AI financing and cash-flow concerns are weighing on mega-cap technology stocks. Microsoft’s roughly $25 billion bond offering and heavy data-center spending have prompted debate about leverage and returns on AI infrastructure. Recent coverage notes that free cash flow fell to about $18.6 billion as capital expenditures increased, making investors more sensitive to execution and funding risks. AI Bond Funding Might Change the Case for Investing in Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Market-wide technology weakness amplified the pressure. The Nasdaq declined as investors reassessed expensive AI-linked stocks, while Oracle’s $10 billion debt sale revived concerns that aggressive AI buildouts may require substantial borrowing. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet and low debt-to-equity ratio distinguish it from weaker peers, but the sector-wide risk-off move still affected MSFT. Oracle Declines as AI Debt Worries Return

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Griffin Securities downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Wolfe Research upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.54.

About Microsoft

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.