Net Worth Advisory Group Lowers Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Net Worth Advisory Group lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,133 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,777 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.0% of Net Worth Advisory Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Net Worth Advisory Group's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $507.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $433.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $413.10. 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 issued its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,810 shares of company stock valued at $10,110,874. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN expanded their strategic partnership, introducing enterprise AI offerings and an AI-enabled PC. The agreement supports Microsoft’s effort to expand Azure and Copilot-related AI adoption internationally. Microsoft and HUMAIN Expand Strategic Collaboration at LEAP 2026 with New Enterprise AI Offering and AI PC
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs expects elevated AI capital spending to continue into 2027. Sustained demand for cloud computing, data-center capacity and AI infrastructure could benefit Microsoft’s Azure business, although it also implies significant ongoing investment. Here comes the AI capex shocker, Goldman Sachs says
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive, with Citizens analyst Patrick Walravens anticipating that Microsoft could retest its record high over the next 12 months. Erste Group also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate, reinforcing the bullish view on earnings growth. Wall Street analyst sets Microsoft stock price target for next 12 months
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is expected to announce its annual dividend increase in September. Its last six increases were between 9% and 11%, but the size of the upcoming raise remains uncertain; the news offers income support rather than an immediate earnings catalyst. Microsoft Has Raised Its Dividend Every Year for More Than a Decade
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft Outlook experienced an outage that disrupted email access, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT Work reported elevated errors and latency. Although likely temporary, the incidents raise concerns about service reliability across productivity and AI products. Microsoft Outlook and OpenAI's ChatGPT Work are experiencing user outages
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also focused on the power, water and electricity demands associated with Microsoft’s expanding data-center footprint. Infrastructure bottlenecks and rising AI-related capital requirements could pressure margins and increase execution risk. Microsoft Stock Slips as Its Magic Word for Data Centers Emerges
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft acknowledged that a Windows 11 update can cause broken mouse cursors and black desktop wallpapers. The issue is unlikely to materially affect financial results, but it adds to near-term product-reliability concerns. Microsoft Admits Windows 11 Update Breaks Mouse Cursors

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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