Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,133 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 4,401 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.5% of Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew 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 buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.27.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Microsoft Stock Performance
NASDAQ MSFT opened at $513.53 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $430.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $412.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.
Trending Headlines about Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s strong Azure and cloud performance helped drive a rally of roughly 48% from its June low, with the stock reaching a 10-month high and moving above a technical buy point. A recently formed “golden cross,” in which the 50-day moving average moved above the 200-day average, also supports bullish momentum. Bull v. Bear: MSFT Hits 2026 High, is a New Record Next?
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly in early discussions with Moonshot AI regarding its Kimi K3 model. A potential arrangement could add another AI service to Azure and create a new revenue stream, although negotiations are not finalized. MSFT Stock Alert: Moonshot Could Give Microsoft Another AI Revenue Stream
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s deployment of more than 25 AI agents across its supply chain illustrates early enterprise use cases for agentic AI, including demand forecasting, freight routing and inventory management. Successful internal deployments could support broader adoption of Microsoft’s AI tools. Microsoft Puts 25 AI Agents to Work on Supply Chain Costs
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is spending heavily on AI infrastructure—approximately $175 billion this year—and has reassured employees that data-center investment is intended to support long-term growth. Azure reportedly surpassed $100 billion, while contracted backlog and commercial bookings remain major valuation supports. Microsoft Reassures Employees About AI Data Center Impacts
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s gains have helped lift major indexes, but the strength is concentrated in a few mega-cap technology stocks while small caps and many sectors weaken as bond yields rise. This creates a broader market-risk backdrop despite Microsoft’s relative strength. Dow Jones Futures: Microsoft, Titans Mask Market Weakness
- Negative Sentiment: One analyst argued that Microsoft’s valuation rerating may be largely complete for now, raising the risk of profit-taking after the recent monthly rally. At the current valuation, further gains may require continued upward revisions to cloud and AI growth expectations. Microsoft: The Rerating Is Probably Over For Now
Microsoft 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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