Asio Capital LLC Sells 2,209 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Asio Capital reduced its Microsoft stake by 4.9%, selling 2,209 shares and retaining 42,668 shares valued at approximately $15.9 million. Microsoft represented about 2% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with $90.01 billion in revenue and $4.74 in EPS, surpassing analyst estimates; revenue increased 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $564.27.
• Microsoft’s AI and Azure momentum remains a major growth driver, but investors face risks from heavy AI capital spending, cybersecurity issues, lawsuits related to OpenAI content use and recent insider stock sales.

Asio Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,668 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,209 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.0% of Asio Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Asio Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock worth $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,056,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft disclosed that Azure has surpassed a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate and reorganized its reporting structure around AI agents and infrastructure. The disclosure improves visibility into the company’s fastest-growing business and reinforces the long-term AI investment case. Microsoft Breaks Out Azure Sales at $100 Billion Annualized Pace, Reorganizes AI Segments
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is supporting UpDoc’s team in an ARPA-H program developing autonomous clinical AI for cardiovascular care, alongside OpenAI and NVIDIA. The initiative offers potential strategic and reputational benefits in healthcare AI, although the immediate financial impact is likely limited. ARPA-H Selects UpDoc to Lead Development of Autonomous Clinical AI System
• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square, managed by Bill Ackman, reportedly increased its Microsoft position by 6.2 million shares. The purchase may provide a sentiment boost by signaling confidence from a prominent activist investor. Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman Boosts Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong demand for high-bandwidth memory from Microsoft and other AI companies is benefiting suppliers such as SK Hynix. The report highlights Microsoft’s continued AI infrastructure spending, but also underscores dependence on costly hardware and supply-chain capacity. Nvidia and Meta Are Hungry for HBM
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday addressed a record 974 vulnerabilities, including two Windows zero-days reportedly exploited in the wild. While the fixes reduce longer-term security risk, the scale of the release may raise concerns about software quality, cybersecurity costs and potential customer disruption. Microsoft Patches Record 974 Flaws
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst downgrade argues that Microsoft’s AI capital-expenditure rotation does not yet support an optimistic view, intensifying concerns that infrastructure spending could pressure returns and free cash flow before monetization catches up. Microsoft: CapEx Rotation Does Not Support an Optimistic View
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh lawsuits from news organizations over AI training and content usage add legal and regulatory uncertainty to Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship. Rising Treasury yields are an additional valuation headwind for large technology companies. Microsoft’s OpenAI Partnership Draws Fresh Legal Fire

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $491.65 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $3.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The business's fifty day moving average is $451.71 and its 200-day moving average is $417.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $564.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,335 shares of company stock worth $50,655,795. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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