Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. Sells 11,367 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. cut its Microsoft stake by 7.1%, selling 11,367 shares in the second quarter and retaining 149,160 shares valued at approximately $55.6 million.
• Microsoft continues to receive broadly positive analyst coverage, with 42 Buy ratings and five Holds; the consensus price target is $560.27, implying a “Moderate Buy” rating.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue rising 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, beating estimates. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% annual yield.

Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,160 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 11,367 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.6% of Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $55,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Evercore set a $528.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Arete Research raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock 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 research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.27.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley identified a bullish technical signal across several megacap technology stocks, including Microsoft, potentially supporting further gains as institutional positioning improves. A Bullish Signal Could Point to Gains Ahead for These Big Tech Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s roughly $678 billion Azure backlog gives investors greater visibility into future cloud and AI revenue, helping counter fears that hyperscalers may struggle to earn adequate returns on AI infrastructure spending. Microsoft Stock Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Supports AI Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s internally developed AI chips are reported to deliver efficiency gains of up to 40% versus reliance on OpenAI-related infrastructure. Greater use of its own technology could improve capacity, margins and control over the AI stack. Microsoft’s Own AI Chips Are Driving Efficiency Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Azure’s more-than-$100 billion annual revenue milestone, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption and Microsoft’s ability to monetize AI through its broad enterprise software base.
• Positive Sentiment: New Azure and Microsoft Marketplace integrations, including Dirac’s AI process-planning platform and other enterprise applications, reinforce demand for Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem. An investment manager also maintained exposure to Microsoft, while Altarock Partners increased its stake. Dirac Brings AI-Driven Process Planning to Microsoft Azure
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is changing its AI data-center policy by reducing nondisclosure requirements and emphasizing community engagement. The approach may ease regulatory and local opposition, but could increase transparency and complicate facility expansion.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavy AI capital expenditures may outpace revenue and cash-flow returns. A separate comparison argued Oracle currently offers stronger AI backlog growth and valuation, potentially making Microsoft less attractive to some buyers.
• Negative Sentiment: Beijing is reportedly accelerating the replacement of Microsoft Windows in Chinese government systems, creating a geopolitical and regional-sales headwind. The departure of Microsoft AI’s chief marketing officer also introduces some execution uncertainty around consumer AI adoption.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MSFT opened at $484.31 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $415.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $408.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

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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