Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by MSA Advisors LLC

MSA Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,620 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,520 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.3% of MSA Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. MSA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman reaffirmed his bullish Azure thesis, arguing that continued capacity investment and Microsoft 365’s embedded customer base can support high-teens earnings growth. Microsoft Stock Rises as Ackman Reaffirms Azure Bet
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing accelerating Copilot adoption and infrastructure growth. Wells Fargo also maintained an overweight rating and lifted its target to $700, reinforcing the view that the stock’s AI-driven recovery has further upside. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft began gradually combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified AI platform. The planned “super app” could improve user adoption, cross-selling and Microsoft’s competitive position against ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Consumer and Enterprise Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft accepted IREN’s first AI data-center deployment under a $9.7 billion cloud agreement. The milestone supports Azure’s ability to secure additional computing capacity as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. IREN Hands Microsoft Its First AI Cloud Deployment
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly closing or restructuring numerous China offices and joint ventures, while retaining an Azure-linked presence. The move may reduce geopolitical exposure but could also limit access to the Chinese market. Microsoft Retreats in China
• Negative Sentiment: A report said Microsoft plans to cut carbon-removal purchases while AI-related emissions rise, creating potential reputational and environmental concerns. Microsoft Carbon Removal Purchases Report

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Dbs Bank cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. CLSA reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of MSFT opened at $496.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. 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 is $409.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $407.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).