Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Ayrshire Capital Management LLC's 7th Largest Position

Key Points

• Ayrshire Capital Management trimmed its Microsoft stake by 7.3% in the second quarter, but Microsoft remains the firm’s seventh-largest holding at roughly 4% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, exceeding analyst expectations. The company also announced plans to provide detailed Azure revenue reporting beginning in fiscal 2027.
• Microsoft shares opened at $510.12, while analysts maintain a generally bullish outlook with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $562.49. Recent risks include heavy AI infrastructure spending, potential cloud-margin pressure and CEO insider selling under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,150 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,819 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.0% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew 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 during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 108,335 shares of company stock worth $53,499,700. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $510.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company's fifty day moving average price is $441.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $415.21. 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 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft will begin reporting quarterly Azure revenue in fiscal 2027 and reorganize its financial reporting from three segments into two AI-focused categories. Azure generated approximately $29.4 billion in quarterly revenue and $101.9 billion for fiscal 2026, providing investors with more visibility into cloud growth and AI demand. Microsoft to reveal Azure cloud sales in financial reporting shift
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reaffirmed a Buy rating and $600 price target, while other analysts cited Microsoft’s large AI backlog, Azure’s more than $100 billion annual revenue and the potential for improved AI economics. The company’s latest earnings also showed strong momentum, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and a substantial earnings beat. Analyst reaffirms Buy on Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched GPT-6 Astra, potentially strengthening Microsoft’s AI ecosystem and demand for Azure infrastructure. Microsoft is also securing long-term power capacity for data centers and expanding Microsoft 365 Copilot integrations. OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares worth about $43.4 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the sale limits its significance, although it reduced his holdings by 15.09% and adds to recent insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft will impose monthly limits on Xbox cloud-gaming hours for Game Pass subscribers beginning in November as service costs rise. The change may improve economics but could hurt consumer sentiment and gaming engagement. Microsoft to impose time limits on Xbox cloud gaming
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh Microsoft’s roughly $116 billion AI infrastructure spending plan, rising data-center costs and pressure on cloud margins. The key risk is whether the large backlog converts into profitable cash flow rather than simply future revenue.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $562.49.

Microsoft Company 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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