Beacon Bank & Trust Lowers Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Beacon Bank & Trust cut its Microsoft stake by 5.2% in the second quarter, selling 1,911 shares and retaining 34,694 shares valued at approximately $12.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft insiders sold 37,310 shares worth about $17.3 million over the past three months, including sales by CEO Judson Althoff and EVP Takeshi Numoto.
• Despite the selling, analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $560.27. Microsoft also reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Beacon Bank & Trust decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,694 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,911 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.5% of Beacon Bank & Trust's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Beacon Bank & Trust's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $483.24 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $419.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $409.20. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.10. 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 - Get Free Report) last released 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly preparing to launch its Maia 300 AI accelerator as soon as this fall and is discussing production with TSMC. Developing proprietary chips could reduce long-term reliance on Nvidia, improve supply-chain control, and support Microsoft’s expanding AI infrastructure. Microsoft’s Betting Big on Its Own AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Meta has reportedly become one of Microsoft’s largest Azure AI customers, spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually and consuming substantial computing capacity. The relationship reinforces evidence that enterprise demand is translating into Azure revenue. Meta Emerges as a Major Microsoft Azure AI Client
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, while Azure revenue reportedly surpassed $100 billion. Analysts and financial commentators also highlighted a roughly $678 billion backlog and continued strong demand for cloud and AI services. Microsoft Raises Dividend as AI Capital Spending Hits Record Levels
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the Horizon 1 Texas data-center project involving IREN, potentially expanding capacity available for AI workloads. The development is strategically relevant, although the near-term financial benefit to Microsoft remains unclear. Microsoft Accepts Horizon 1
• Negative Sentiment: Annual capital spending has climbed nearly 80% to about $115.9 billion, while free cash flow declined. Investors remain focused on whether AI revenue growth will generate adequate returns on this spending. Microsoft Spent $115.9 Billion on AI
• Negative Sentiment: TCI Management reportedly exited its Microsoft position and increased its Alphabet stake, adding a notable institutional-selling signal. Separately, commentary warned that Microsoft’s valuation depends on optimistic earnings forecasts, while higher bond yields could reduce the present value of future AI profits. TCI Exits Microsoft

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).

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