HM Payson & Co. Has $353.86 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• HM Payson & Co. holds 948,625 Microsoft shares valued at approximately $353.86 million after trimming its position by 0.3%. Microsoft represents about 4.7% of the firm’s portfolio, while institutional investors own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $4.74 per share and revenue of $90.01 billion, beating analyst expectations, with revenue up 17.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $564.27.
• Insiders sold roughly $50.7 million of Microsoft shares during the last quarter, including substantial sales by CEOs Judson Althoff and Satya Nadella. Investors are also weighing strong Azure and AI growth prospects against rising capital expenditures, potential free-cash-flow pressure and elevated valuation.

HM Payson & Co. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 948,625 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,690 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.7% of HM Payson & Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. HM Payson & Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $353,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $35,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 101,335 shares of company stock worth $50,655,795 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $492.44 on Friday. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $453.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $418.62. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.11.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $564.27.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reportedly plans to expand data-center capacity to approximately 38 gigawatts by 2032—more than triple its current footprint. The scale of the investment underscores management’s confidence in long-term Azure and AI demand, although the spending commitment also increases financial risk. Microsoft plans 38 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2032
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its partnership with Talkdesk, allowing customers to buy contact-center AI software with existing Azure commitments through the Azure Marketplace. The arrangement could increase Azure consumption and make enterprise AI adoption easier. Talkdesk and Microsoft expand partnership
• Positive Sentiment: TrueFoundry’s AI Gateway is now available in the Microsoft Marketplace, adding another enterprise AI workload to Azure’s commercial ecosystem. Microsoft is also promoting enforceable privacy controls for schools using AI, which may support adoption in sensitive education markets. TrueFoundry AI Gateway availability
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and bullish commentary continue to point to Azure’s more-than-$100 billion annual revenue, rising Copilot adoption and Microsoft’s strong profitability as reasons the stock could outperform. However, the shares remain valued near 28 times earnings, leaving less room for disappointment. Microsoft bull case
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that the AI infrastructure buildup will pressure free cash flow and returns on capital. A separate analysis downgraded Microsoft, arguing that the company’s capital-expenditure rotation does not support an optimistic outlook. Microsoft capital expenditure downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Higher Treasury yields are weighing on expensive technology stocks, while Dynamics 365 Activate faces questions about slowing growth and softer bookings despite its effort to win Salesforce migrations. Microsoft also disclosed a record Patch Tuesday involving 974 vulnerabilities, including two exploited Windows zero-days, highlighting ongoing security and reputational risks. Microsoft Patch Tuesday vulnerabilities

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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