Inceptionr LLC Purchases Shares of 1,797 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Inceptionr LLC acquired 1,797 Microsoft shares during the first quarter, valued at approximately $665,000. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft’s outstanding stock.
• Microsoft reported a strong quarter, with earnings per share of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion, exceeding analyst expectations; revenue rose 17.7% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $558.87 price target. Microsoft also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, while insiders sold $17.8 million in stock during the latest quarter.

Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,797 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $665,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm'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 owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $499.99 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $404.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $406.59. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72.

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 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 return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued 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 20.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Arete Research lifted their target price on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Phillip Securities cut shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Forty-two 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $558.87.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its Microsoft price target to $600. The upgrade follows Microsoft’s quarterly Azure performance, with analysts highlighting the 43% cloud-revenue increase and stronger-than-expected earnings as evidence that AI demand is translating into accelerating cloud growth. Citi Raises Microsoft Stock Target to $600
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom AI chips may improve cloud economics. CEO Satya Nadella said the company’s internally developed chips can deliver efficiency gains of up to 40%. Better cost and energy efficiency could help Microsoft support AI workloads while protecting Azure margins. Microsoft Custom AI Chips Improve Efficiency
• Positive Sentiment: Azure is expanding in India. Microsoft opened a major Hyderabad data-center region and is committing approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian cloud and AI operations. Early customers include Adani Group and HDFC Bank, supporting the case for long-term international Azure growth. Microsoft Opens Largest India Data Center Hub
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and institutional support remain strong. Microsoft recently exceeded quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, while Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square holds a reported $2.4 billion MSFT position. Scotiabank also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate and maintained an Outperform rating. Bill Ackman Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: AI demand is powerful but concentrated. Reports suggest OpenAI may account for a substantial portion of Microsoft’s AI sales, creating both a major growth engine and customer-concentration risk. Microsoft’s large AI backlog also does not guarantee equivalent future profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Spending, margins and valuation remain concerns. Rising data-center capital expenditures and lower cloud gross margins could pressure cash flow if AI infrastructure costs grow faster than revenue. After the sharp post-earnings rally, the stock is also more vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing guidance.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sales and securities litigation add headline risk. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares for roughly $4.9 million, and multiple law firms are publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These developments do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on near-term sentiment.

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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