Harbor Investment Advisory LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,724 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,243 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.4% of Harbor Investment Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group set a $525.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.27.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Trading Down 0.7%
Shares of MSFT opened at $481.15 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $417.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $408.78. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.
Microsoft News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Azure demand remains a major support. Microsoft’s reported $678 billion backlog of contracted cloud commitments provides visibility for future revenue and helps defend the company’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending. Microsoft Stock Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Supports AI Spending
- Positive Sentiment: Meta is becoming a significant Azure AI customer. Meta reportedly spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually on Azure and consumes large volumes of AI tokens, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI services. Meta Platforms Emerges as a Major Microsoft Azure AI Client
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues investing in AI capabilities. The company is increasing fiscal 2027 capital expenditures to expand infrastructure, while internally developed AI chips could improve efficiency and margins over time. Its latest quarterly results also showed strong earnings and 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is hiring AI-capable legal talent and reportedly offering compensation of up to $279,000 for a legal engineer. The move highlights the company’s effort to integrate AI into commercial and compliance operations but is unlikely to materially affect near-term results. Microsoft Will Pay Up to $279K for a Lawyer Who Can Build AI
- Negative Sentiment: Higher yields are pressuring long-duration AI valuations. Rising interest rates reduce the present value of projected future AI profits, contributing to market questions despite Microsoft’s backlog and operating strength. Microsoft Slips as 4.68% Yield Tests Its $678 Billion Backlog
- Negative Sentiment: Technology stocks broadly declined Thursday afternoon, adding sector-driven pressure to MSFT. Investors are also monitoring concerns that large AI companies buying services from one another could create circular demand signals.
- Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces geopolitical and execution risks. China is accelerating its move away from Windows, while continued AI capital spending raises questions about returns on investment. Recent insider activity also shows executive selling without reported purchases, a modest negative sentiment signal.
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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