Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Cary Street Partners increased its Microsoft position by 10.3% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 26,972 shares valued at approximately $10.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with 42 Buy ratings and five Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $564.27, although some firms have reduced their targets or ratings.
• Microsoft reported quarterly revenue of $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, beating estimates, while expanding its AI and Azure infrastructure plans. However, investors remain concerned about heavy capital spending, pressure on free cash flow, elevated valuation and cybersecurity risks.

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,972 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,528 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.0% of Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $564.27.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reportedly plans to expand data-center capacity to approximately 38 gigawatts by 2032—more than triple its current footprint. The scale of the investment underscores management’s confidence in long-term Azure and AI demand, although the spending commitment also increases financial risk. Microsoft plans 38 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2032
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its partnership with Talkdesk, allowing customers to buy contact-center AI software with existing Azure commitments through the Azure Marketplace. The arrangement could increase Azure consumption and make enterprise AI adoption easier. Talkdesk and Microsoft expand partnership
• Positive Sentiment: TrueFoundry’s AI Gateway is now available in the Microsoft Marketplace, adding another enterprise AI workload to Azure’s commercial ecosystem. Microsoft is also promoting enforceable privacy controls for schools using AI, which may support adoption in sensitive education markets. TrueFoundry AI Gateway availability
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and bullish commentary continue to point to Azure’s more-than-$100 billion annual revenue, rising Copilot adoption and Microsoft’s strong profitability as reasons the stock could outperform. However, the shares remain valued near 28 times earnings, leaving less room for disappointment. Microsoft bull case
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that the AI infrastructure buildup will pressure free cash flow and returns on capital. A separate analysis downgraded Microsoft, arguing that the company’s capital-expenditure rotation does not support an optimistic outlook. Microsoft capital expenditure downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Higher Treasury yields are weighing on expensive technology stocks, while Dynamics 365 Activate faces questions about slowing growth and softer bookings despite its effort to win Salesforce migrations. Microsoft also disclosed a record Patch Tuesday involving 974 vulnerabilities, including two exploited Windows zero-days, highlighting ongoing security and reputational risks. Microsoft Patch Tuesday vulnerabilities

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $492.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $453.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.62. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.11. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. The business's revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 101,335 shares of company stock worth $50,655,795. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

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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