Constant Guidance Financial LLC Sells 4,240 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Constant Guidance Financial LLC cut its Microsoft stake by 61.6% in the first quarter, selling 4,240 shares and retaining 2,643 shares valued at approximately $978,000.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding estimates and representing 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 42 Buy ratings, a “Moderate Buy” consensus, and an average price target of $560.27, supported by expectations for continued Azure, Copilot, and AI infrastructure growth.

Constant Guidance Financial LLC lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 61.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,643 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,240 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.7% of Constant Guidance Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Constant Guidance Financial LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman reaffirmed his bullish Azure thesis, arguing that continued capacity investment and Microsoft 365’s embedded customer base can support high-teens earnings growth. Microsoft Stock Rises as Ackman Reaffirms Azure Bet
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing accelerating Copilot adoption and infrastructure growth. Wells Fargo also maintained an overweight rating and lifted its target to $700, reinforcing the view that the stock’s AI-driven recovery has further upside. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft began gradually combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified AI platform. The planned “super app” could improve user adoption, cross-selling and Microsoft’s competitive position against ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Consumer and Enterprise Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft accepted IREN’s first AI data-center deployment under a $9.7 billion cloud agreement. The milestone supports Azure’s ability to secure additional computing capacity as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. IREN Hands Microsoft Its First AI Cloud Deployment
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly closing or restructuring numerous China offices and joint ventures, while retaining an Azure-linked presence. The move may reduce geopolitical exposure but could also limit access to the Chinese market. Microsoft Retreats in China
• Negative Sentiment: A report said Microsoft plans to cut carbon-removal purchases while AI-related emissions rise, creating potential reputational and environmental concerns. Microsoft Carbon Removal Purchases Report

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $496.88 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock's fifty day moving average is $409.70 and its 200-day moving average is $407.88.

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, beating 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 revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. China Renaissance dropped their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $528.00 price objective on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft 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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