Gradient Investments LLC Has $113.75 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Gradient Investments LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 304,934 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 14,661 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.6% of Gradient Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $113,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Argus cut their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, DZ Bank reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $487.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.10. 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $421.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $409.73.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s data-center expansion is becoming central to the bullish case. Analysts argue that demand is already supported by booked orders, with the company’s commercial backlog reportedly reaching approximately $678 billion. The opportunity depends on how quickly Microsoft can add capacity and deliver Azure AI services. Microsoft Stock's Upside Now Runs Through Its Data Center Build
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple market commentaries remain constructive on Microsoft’s enterprise AI platform, citing Azure, Office and the company’s broader software ecosystem as sources of a durable competitive moat. Recent earnings also showed strong momentum, with revenue growth of 17.7% and earnings exceeding expectations. Microsoft Stock in 2027: My Prediction Is That It Still Beats the Market
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox release schedule could help stabilize or revive gaming revenue after a recent sales slowdown, although the impact depends on the performance of the new titles. Can Xbox's Upcoming Gaming Roster Lift MSFT's Gaming Revenues?
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that employees shared compensation details and monthly AI usage costs in internal spreadsheets provide transparency but have limited direct earnings implications. They may nevertheless draw attention to Microsoft’s workforce costs and the scale of internal AI adoption. Microsoft employees reveal how much cash they're burning on AI
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavy AI infrastructure spending is outpacing shareholder distributions and could weigh on free cash flow, margins and future dividend growth. Related commentary also highlights the broader debt burden associated with the AI buildout. Microsoft's AI spending and dividend costs
• Negative Sentiment: Australia’s new rules requiring large digital platforms to compensate local news publishers create additional obligations for LinkedIn and could modestly increase regulatory and operating costs. Microsoft Gets New Australia News Rules

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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