Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock: Waycross Investment Management Co Boosts Holdings

Waycross Investment Management Co grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,393 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,054 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.0% of Waycross Investment Management Co’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Waycross Investment Management Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,338,370,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $18,306,443,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,928,664,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,653,812,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,000,706,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total value of $3,984,293.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 555,396 shares in the company, valued at $302,924,086.32. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Microsoft from $660.00 to $662.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $570.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Forty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.07.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive ahead of earnings. Oppenheimer raised its price target to $625 from $570, while Truist lifted its target to $600 from $575; both cited strong enterprise demand and sustained Azure growth. Oppenheimer raises Microsoft target ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street expects continued AI momentum, with Azure growth projected to accelerate toward 45% and Copilot adoption supporting longer-term monetization. Microsoft’s reported cloud backlog and a reported agreement for Anthropic to spend at least $45 billion on Microsoft cloud infrastructure also reinforce demand visibility. Azure AI growth ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its AI collaboration with Dayforce across human resources, finance and operations, potentially broadening enterprise use of Microsoft’s AI and cloud ecosystem. Dayforce expands AI collaboration with Microsoft
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft reports after the bell Wednesday. Analysts expect approximately $4.72 EPS and $90.69 billion in revenue, while options markets imply about a 5.09% post-earnings move. Traders are positioned around $555 calls and $460 puts, signaling substantial volatility rather than a clear direction. Microsoft earnings options outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees across the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K. The move may reduce costs and redirect resources toward AI, but its scale raises concerns about restructuring, execution and the underlying pressure from heavy data-center investment. Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also weighing rising AI infrastructure costs, capacity constraints and possible margin pressure. A reported delay affecting a Microsoft AI data-center project in the U.K. highlights the practical bottlenecks facing the company’s aggressive capital-spending strategy. Microsoft AI data-center constraints

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $531.33 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $510.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $437.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.66 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%.

Microsoft Company 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.