Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by GoalVest Advisory LLC

Key Points

• GoalVest Advisory reduced its Microsoft stake by 18.3% in the second quarter, selling 2,777 shares and retaining 12,357 shares valued at approximately $4.61 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue up 17.7% to $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, while Azure demand and a reported $678 billion commercial backlog support its AI and cloud outlook.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive view, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $560.27, though heavy AI infrastructure spending is pressuring free cash flow. Microsoft also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

GoalVest Advisory LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,357 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,777 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.9% of GoalVest Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. GoalVest Advisory LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,609,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure backlog supports visibility. Microsoft’s commercial backlog reportedly reached approximately $678 billion, suggesting substantial future cloud revenue and helping the stock outperform during a broader technology-sector selloff. Microsoft Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Defies Tech Selloff
• Positive Sentiment: AI demand is strengthening Microsoft’s enterprise moat. Analysts and investors point to Azure, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the company’s broad enterprise ecosystem as advantages that could support continued AI monetization. Microsoft’s stock has gained about 28% over the past month, substantially outperforming the technology-sector ETF cited in the coverage. Most Investors Overlook MSFT’s AI Moat
• Positive Sentiment: Meta Platforms is becoming a major Microsoft customer. Meta’s growing reliance on Microsoft’s infrastructure for AI could increase Azure demand and provide additional validation of Microsoft’s cloud platform. Meta Platforms Is Now One of Microsoft’s Biggest Customers
• Positive Sentiment: Data-center expansion and partnerships add incremental support. Microsoft is expanding capacity to meet AI demand, while new customer, sports, and business partnerships reinforce its cloud and AI ecosystem. These developments are strategically favorable but are unlikely to materially affect near-term earnings on their own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical and momentum coverage remains favorable. Several reports describe MSFT as a top-ranked momentum or rebound candidate, but these are largely investment-screening and opinion-based articles rather than new fundamental announcements. MSFT, ORCL and INTC Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Capital intensity is the principal concern. Coverage highlights sharply lower free cash flow as Microsoft invests heavily in AI infrastructure and data centers. The rally toward the $600 level may depend on whether the next earnings report shows that booked demand is converting into revenue quickly enough to offset margin and cash-flow pressure. What Would It Take to Get MSFT Stock Up to $600?
• Negative Sentiment: Short-interest data provides no useful signal. The reported figures show zero shares sold short both currently and previously, with a zero-day short-interest ratio, indicating a likely data-quality issue rather than a meaningful change in investor positioning.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Arete Research raised their price target on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Forty-two equities 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, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company's stock, 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 Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $491.71 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The stock's fifty day moving average is $423.32 and its 200-day moving average is $410.28. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. Microsoft's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.27%.

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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