Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Cedar Mountain Advisors cut its Microsoft stake by 35.9% in the second quarter, selling 1,546 shares and retaining 2,759 shares valued at approximately $1.03 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 42 Buy ratings and five Hold ratings; Microsoft has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $560.27.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, up 17.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a 0.8% annualized yield.

Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,759 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,546 shares during the quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $525.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

MSFT stock opened at $481.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $414.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $408.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and Copilot momentum remain the primary catalysts. Azure reportedly surpassed $100 billion in annual revenue, while Microsoft 365 Copilot exceeded 30 million paid seats. Those milestones reinforce the view that Microsoft is beginning to monetize its AI investments at scale. Price Prediction: One Number Could Decide How High Microsoft Goes in 2027
• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly results continue to support the bull case. Microsoft’s latest report showed earnings per share of $4.74 versus a $4.24 consensus estimate and revenue of $90.01 billion, up 17.7% year over year. Cloud computing and AI helped drive roughly 30% profit growth. These Telltale Signs Cue Microsoft Investors Despite Earnings Surge
• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise adoption and partnerships are broadening demand. Swiss companies are increasing their use of Microsoft’s AI and cloud products, with governance and data sovereignty controls supporting adoption. S&P Global also expanded its integration of AI-ready data into Microsoft 365 Copilot workflows. Swiss Enterprises Prioritize Microsoft AI Governance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and institutional sentiment remains constructive. William Blair reaffirmed a Buy rating, citing early AI monetization, while Altarock Partners increased its Microsoft position. Microsoft Buy Rating Reaffirmed

Microsoft Company 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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