Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 622,401 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,021 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 22.5% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $232,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $483.24 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $419.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $409.30. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. 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 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS 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 company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Forty-two investment 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company'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 directly owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% 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 worth $17,256,219 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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