Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,203 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,369 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.4% of Grove Bank & Trust's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Grove Bank & Trust's holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 8.1% in the second quarter. Legacy Solutions LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $730,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Ridgeline Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 443.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgeline Wealth LLC now owns 4,192 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 3,420 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 32,106 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,976,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 300.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 11,842 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,417,000 after purchasing an additional 8,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TTRF Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,775,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Key Stories Impacting Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Azure demand remains a major support. Microsoft’s reported $678 billion backlog of contracted cloud commitments provides visibility for future revenue and helps defend the company’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending. Microsoft Stock Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Supports AI Spending
- Positive Sentiment: Meta is becoming a significant Azure AI customer. Meta reportedly spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually on Azure and consumes large volumes of AI tokens, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI services. Meta Platforms Emerges as a Major Microsoft Azure AI Client
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues investing in AI capabilities. The company is increasing fiscal 2027 capital expenditures to expand infrastructure, while internally developed AI chips could improve efficiency and margins over time. Its latest quarterly results also showed strong earnings and 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is hiring AI-capable legal talent and reportedly offering compensation of up to $279,000 for a legal engineer. The move highlights the company’s effort to integrate AI into commercial and compliance operations but is unlikely to materially affect near-term results. Microsoft Will Pay Up to $279K for a Lawyer Who Can Build AI
- Negative Sentiment: Higher yields are pressuring long-duration AI valuations. Rising interest rates reduce the present value of projected future AI profits, contributing to market questions despite Microsoft’s backlog and operating strength. Microsoft Slips as 4.68% Yield Tests Its $678 Billion Backlog
- Negative Sentiment: Technology stocks broadly declined Thursday afternoon, adding sector-driven pressure to MSFT. Investors are also monitoring concerns that large AI companies buying services from one another could create circular demand signals.
- Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces geopolitical and execution risks. China is accelerating its move away from Windows, while continued AI capital spending raises questions about returns on investment. Recent insider activity also shows executive selling without reported purchases, a modest negative sentiment signal.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. New Street Research lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. CLSA reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.27.
Read Our Latest Report on MSFT
Microsoft Stock Down 0.7%
Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $481.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $417.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $408.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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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