Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 24,134 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $9,252,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.9% of Allied Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Microsoft Stock Up 0.9%
NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $491.71 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $423.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $410.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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. 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Key Stories Impacting Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Azure backlog supports visibility. Microsoft’s commercial backlog reportedly reached approximately $678 billion, suggesting substantial future cloud revenue and helping the stock outperform during a broader technology-sector selloff. Microsoft Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Defies Tech Selloff
- Positive Sentiment: AI demand is strengthening Microsoft’s enterprise moat. Analysts and investors point to Azure, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the company’s broad enterprise ecosystem as advantages that could support continued AI monetization. Microsoft’s stock has gained about 28% over the past month, substantially outperforming the technology-sector ETF cited in the coverage. Most Investors Overlook MSFT’s AI Moat
- Positive Sentiment: Meta Platforms is becoming a major Microsoft customer. Meta’s growing reliance on Microsoft’s infrastructure for AI could increase Azure demand and provide additional validation of Microsoft’s cloud platform. Meta Platforms Is Now One of Microsoft’s Biggest Customers
- Positive Sentiment: Data-center expansion and partnerships add incremental support. Microsoft is expanding capacity to meet AI demand, while new customer, sports, and business partnerships reinforce its cloud and AI ecosystem. These developments are strategically favorable but are unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings on their own.
- Neutral Sentiment: Technical and momentum coverage remains favorable. Several reports describe MSFT as a top-ranked momentum or rebound candidate, but these are largely investment-screening and opinion-based articles rather than new fundamental announcements. MSFT, ORCL and INTC Forecast
- Negative Sentiment: Capital intensity is the principal concern. Coverage highlights sharply lower free cash flow as Microsoft invests heavily in AI infrastructure and data centers. The rally toward the $600 level may depend on whether the next earnings report shows that booked demand is converting into revenue quickly enough to offset margin and cash-flow pressure. What Would It Take to Get MSFT Stock Up to $600?
- Negative Sentiment: Short-interest data provides no useful signal. The reported figures show zero shares sold short both currently and previously, with a zero-day short-interest ratio, indicating a likely data-quality issue rather than a meaningful change in investor positioning.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.27.
Get Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
Microsoft Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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).
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