Lavelle Capital LP Invests $1.04 Million in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Lavelle Capital LP acquired a new Microsoft stake of 2,822 shares valued at approximately $1.04 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 42 Buy ratings and five Holds; Microsoft has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $560.27.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly expectations with $90.01 billion in revenue and $4.74 in EPS, while reporting 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, though investors continue to monitor high AI infrastructure spending and its potential effect on margins and cash flow.

Lavelle Capital LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,822 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,044,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. New Street Research decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $495.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $411.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $408.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to highlight Microsoft’s Azure expansion, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, and the company’s ability to sustain double-digit earnings growth. Microsoft’s latest quarter also exceeded expectations, with revenue of approximately $90 billion and earnings growth supported by Azure. Microsoft’s Cloud Gains Can Sustain Double-Digit Earnings Growth
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing stronger Copilot demand and accelerating infrastructure investment. Other analysts remain bullish, with a six-month median target near $540, reinforcing investor confidence in Microsoft’s long-term AI positioning. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified platform, potentially improving distribution, user engagement, and monetization as it competes with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Copilot Applications
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the first AI data-center deployment under its $9.7 billion agreement with IREN, supporting Azure capacity expansion. The deal improves supply visibility but also underscores Microsoft’s substantial capital requirements. IREN Delivers First AI Cloud Deployment
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s roughly $175 billion AI infrastructure spending plan could pressure free cash flow and cloud margins. A reported decline in cloud gross margin and higher data-center, chip, electricity, and labor costs raise questions about how much of the company’s large AI backlog will translate into profit. Microsoft’s AI Backlog and Profitability Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft has closed at least 15 China offices and joint ventures add geopolitical and operational uncertainty, although Azure reportedly provides a profitable reason to retain a limited China presence. Microsoft Retreats in China

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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