Evanson Financial LLC Purchases New Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Evanson Financial LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,963 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $9,685,000. Microsoft accounts for about 0.5% of Evanson Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's 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 owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price objective on Microsoft in a report on Monday, August 10th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

Microsoft stock opened at $483.24 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.11. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $419.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $409.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

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

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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