Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Lifted by Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,125 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,444 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.0% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.2% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 473,877 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $176,766,000 after buying an additional 14,673 shares during the last quarter. Rebalance LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,886 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 54,466 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Coastwise Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 15,783 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,887,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313 shares during the period. Finally, Waystone Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Waystone Advisors LLC now owns 26,392 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,845,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $564.27.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This 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 101,335 shares of company stock valued at $50,655,795 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft disclosed that Azure is generating more than a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate and reorganized reporting around AI infrastructure and agents. Greater Azure transparency and accelerating demand could support revenue visibility and investor confidence. Microsoft Breaks Out Azure Sales at $100 Billion Annualized Pace, Reorganizes AI Segments
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is positioned at the center of a projected multitrillion-dollar AI infrastructure buildout, with Azure demand, large customer commitments, and its partnership with NVIDIA potentially creating a long-term growth opportunity. Nvidia, Microsoft at Center of $7 Trillion AI Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive, with recent buy or overweight ratings and a reported median price target of $540. However, the stock’s sharp advance and proximity to its prior high make continued gains dependent on cash-flow conversion and the payoff from heavy AI investment. Microsoft Stock Opinions on Recent Earnings and Business Reorganization
• Negative Sentiment: Two additional lawsuits from news organizations over the use of news content in AI training increase legal uncertainty around Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship and could create financial, reputational, or operational costs. Microsoft’s OpenAI Partnership Draws Fresh Legal Fire
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s effort to measure the “useful yield” produced by each AI infrastructure dollar and watt highlights investor concerns about whether massive data-center spending will generate adequate returns. The scrutiny could pressure sentiment toward Microsoft and key supplier NVIDIA. Microsoft’s Useful Yield Test Raises the Stakes for NVIDIA’s AI Economics
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reports also cite insider selling, including sales by Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, while separate reports of Outlook and Microsoft 365 service disruptions add modest execution and reliability concerns. Microsoft’s OpenAI Partnership Draws Fresh Legal Fire

Microsoft Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of MSFT opened at $493.95 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $449.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $417.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.