Sanchez Levi Garrett Buys New Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Sanchez Levi Garrett bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,647 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,226,000. Microsoft comprises 1.8% of Sanchez Levi Garrett’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the second quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% in the first quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

Microsoft stock opened at $531.87 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $506.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $443.46. 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 cap of $3.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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. 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 prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism and earnings expectations: BMO Capital raised its Microsoft price target to $600 while maintaining an Outperform rating, citing potential upside for Azure. Bernstein also reiterated Outperform and lifted its target to $662. Analysts expect Microsoft’s Oct. 28 results to benefit from Azure demand and expanding enterprise AI adoption. Boeing and Microsoft AI platform article
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud growth remain the core bull case: Commentary points to robust Azure infrastructure demand, commercial customer commitments and Microsoft’s ability to monetize AI across enterprise markets. Its new Maia AI chips could eventually reduce reliance on outside processors and lower inference costs, although execution remains important. Microsoft Q1 outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Xbox and industry partnerships: Microsoft plans next-generation Xbox consoles and handheld devices for the 2027–2028 holiday seasons. Separately, its partnership with AMD is intended to improve Xbox performance, while Boeing’s new Dataliner aircraft-data platform uses Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and could support enterprise cloud adoption. Next-generation Xbox article
• Neutral Sentiment: Tokenized-stock objection: Microsoft joined Alphabet and Goldman Sachs in objecting to having its shares listed on a proposed OKX-ICE tokenized-stock platform. The move may limit potential trading exposure but does not directly affect operating results. Tokenized stocks article
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. AI data-center withdrawal: Microsoft withdrew as anchor tenant from Nscale’s planned Loughton, Essex, facility because grid-connection delays threatened the power supply. The decision highlights electricity and permitting constraints that could slow Azure capacity expansion and increase infrastructure costs. Microsoft U.K. data-center withdrawal
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and execution pressure: Britain’s competition watchdog is considering strategic-market-status rules for Microsoft’s business software, potentially increasing compliance requirements. Investors are also watching whether very large AI capital expenditures generate sufficient revenue and cash flow to justify the spending. U.K. regulation article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI-stock weakness: A selloff across AI-related equities and concerns about financing, power availability and uncertain returns are weighing on large technology stocks, including Microsoft. The company’s elevated valuation leaves less room for disappointment if Azure growth or earnings guidance falls short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $440.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $660.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore upgraded shares of Microsoft from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Melius Research set a $665.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Forty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $592.15.

Microsoft Profile

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.