Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Ahara Advisors LLC

Ahara Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 359.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,035 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 43,852 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 9.3% of Ahara Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Ahara Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $564.27.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $491.65 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average is $451.71 and its 200-day moving average is $417.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 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 prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. The company's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction 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 represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 101,335 shares of company stock worth $50,655,795 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft disclosed that Azure has surpassed a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate and reorganized its reporting structure around AI agents and infrastructure. The disclosure improves visibility into the company’s fastest-growing business and reinforces the long-term AI investment case. Microsoft Breaks Out Azure Sales at $100 Billion Annualized Pace, Reorganizes AI Segments
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is supporting UpDoc’s team in an ARPA-H program developing autonomous clinical AI for cardiovascular care, alongside OpenAI and NVIDIA. The initiative offers potential strategic and reputational benefits in healthcare AI, although the immediate financial impact is likely limited. ARPA-H Selects UpDoc to Lead Development of Autonomous Clinical AI System
• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square, managed by Bill Ackman, reportedly increased its Microsoft position by 6.2 million shares. The purchase may provide a sentiment boost by signaling confidence from a prominent activist investor. Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman Boosts Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong demand for high-bandwidth memory from Microsoft and other AI companies is benefiting suppliers such as SK Hynix. The report highlights Microsoft’s continued AI infrastructure spending, but also underscores dependence on costly hardware and supply-chain capacity. Nvidia and Meta Are Hungry for HBM
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday addressed a record 974 vulnerabilities, including two Windows zero-days reportedly exploited in the wild. While the fixes reduce longer-term security risk, the scale of the release may raise concerns about software quality, cybersecurity costs and potential customer disruption. Microsoft Patches Record 974 Flaws
• Negative Sentiment: An analyst downgrade argues that Microsoft’s AI capital-expenditure rotation does not yet support an optimistic view, intensifying concerns that infrastructure spending could pressure returns and free cash flow before monetization catches up. Microsoft: CapEx Rotation Does Not Support an Optimistic View
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh lawsuits from news organizations over AI training and content usage add legal and regulatory uncertainty to Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship. Rising Treasury yields are an additional valuation headwind for large technology companies. Microsoft’s OpenAI Partnership Draws Fresh Legal Fire

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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