6,291 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Rational Advisors Inc.

Rational Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 56.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,806 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,291 shares during the period. Rational Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, September 28th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, July 24th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $592.15.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Microsoft News

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.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $531.87 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $506.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $443.46. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. 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 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.