Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Cut by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Key Points

• Chesley Taft & Associates LLC cut its Microsoft stake by 8.8% in the second quarter, selling 20,915 shares and retaining 217,171 shares valued at approximately $81 million. Microsoft remains the fund’s fifth-largest holding and represents about 3.2% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $4.74 per share on revenue of $90.01 billion, beating analyst expectations and reflecting 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $560.27.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, equivalent to an annualized $3.64 payout and a 0.8% yield. Microsoft insiders, including CEO Judson Althoff and EVP Takeshi Numoto, also sold shares recently, with insiders selling 37,310 shares worth about $17.3 million over the past 90 days.

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 217,171 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 20,915 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.2% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $81,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 37,329 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $13,924,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. First Heartland Consultants Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the second quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc. now owns 15,527 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,792,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Kwmg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 21,531 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,031,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. White Wing Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. White Wing Wealth Management now owns 1,189 shares of the software giant's stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Victrix Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors now owns 27,595 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,293,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $483.24 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $419.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $409.20.

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 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DZ Bank reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.27.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly preparing to launch its Maia 300 AI accelerator as soon as this fall and is discussing production with TSMC. Developing proprietary chips could reduce long-term reliance on Nvidia, improve supply-chain control, and support Microsoft’s expanding AI infrastructure. Microsoft’s Betting Big on Its Own AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Meta has reportedly become one of Microsoft’s largest Azure AI customers, spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually and consuming substantial computing capacity. The relationship reinforces evidence that enterprise demand is translating into Azure revenue. Meta Emerges as a Major Microsoft Azure AI Client
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, while Azure revenue reportedly surpassed $100 billion. Analysts and financial commentators also highlighted a roughly $678 billion backlog and continued strong demand for cloud and AI services. Microsoft Raises Dividend as AI Capital Spending Hits Record Levels
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the Horizon 1 Texas data-center project involving IREN, potentially expanding capacity available for AI workloads. The development is strategically relevant, although the near-term financial benefit to Microsoft remains unclear. Microsoft Accepts Horizon 1
• Negative Sentiment: Annual capital spending has climbed nearly 80% to about $115.9 billion, while free cash flow declined. Investors remain focused on whether AI revenue growth will generate adequate returns on this spending. Microsoft Spent $115.9 Billion on AI
• Negative Sentiment: TCI Management reportedly exited its Microsoft position and increased its Alphabet stake, adding a notable institutional-selling signal. Separately, commentary warned that Microsoft’s valuation depends on optimistic earnings forecasts, while higher bond yields could reduce the present value of future AI profits. TCI Exits Microsoft

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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