McIlrath & Eck LLC Purchases 18,127 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 17%, purchasing 18,127 shares to own 124,543 shares worth approximately $46.1 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% to $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, exceeding analyst expectations. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $560.27.
• Investor sentiment remains supported by Azure growth and rising Copilot demand, but concerns persist over approximately $175 billion in AI infrastructure spending, potential pressure on margins and free cash flow, and Microsoft’s reduced China operations.

McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,543 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 18,127 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.4% of McIlrath & Eck LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. McIlrath & Eck LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $46,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. President Capital boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 6th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $495.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $411.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $408.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, 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 Stories 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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