Red Spruce Capital LLC Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Red Spruce Capital increased its Microsoft stake by 39.2% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 21,199 shares valued at approximately $7.9 million. Microsoft now represents about 2.8% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 42 Buy ratings and five Holds, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $560.27.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, while raising its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share. Company insiders, however, sold a combined 37,310 shares worth about $17.3 million over the past 90 days.

Red Spruce Capital LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 39.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,199 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,967 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.8% of Red Spruce Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Red Spruce Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Evercore set a $528.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $483.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $419.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $409.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

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

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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