Community Trust & Investment Co. Buys 17,044 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its Microsoft stake by 7.1%, purchasing 17,044 shares to bring its holdings to 256,067 shares valued at approximately $95.5 million. Institutional investors own about 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenue up 17.7% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $560.27, though investors are monitoring Microsoft’s nearly $115.9 billion in annual capital spending and declining free cash flow as AI investment increases.

Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 256,067 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 17,044 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.9% of Community Trust & Investment Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $95,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value 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 represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $510.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price target (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Key Microsoft News

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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $483.24 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The company's fifty day moving average is $419.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $409.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

About Microsoft

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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