Sei Investments Co. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,000,712 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 111,109 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.4% of Sei Investments Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.09% of Microsoft worth $2,591,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% in the first quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 10,519 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,894,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 13,853 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,129,000 after acquiring an additional 3,133 shares during the period. Alamar Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $591,000. Davis R M Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.5% during the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 476,890 shares of the software giant's stock worth $176,530,000 after purchasing an additional 20,368 shares during the period. Finally, Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 84.3% during the first quarter. Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,549 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,535,000 after purchasing an additional 4,369 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Microsoft Price Performance
MSFT stock opened at $499.99 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $404.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $406.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. 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 (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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 20.27%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 38,572 shares of company stock worth $17,775,330 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its Microsoft price target to $600. The upgrade follows Microsoft’s quarterly Azure performance, with analysts highlighting the 43% cloud-revenue increase and stronger-than-expected earnings as evidence that AI demand is translating into accelerating cloud growth. Citi Raises Microsoft Stock Target to $600
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom AI chips may improve cloud economics. CEO Satya Nadella said the company’s internally developed chips can deliver efficiency gains of up to 40%. Better cost and energy efficiency could help Microsoft support AI workloads while protecting Azure margins. Microsoft Custom AI Chips Improve Efficiency
- Positive Sentiment: Azure is expanding in India. Microsoft opened a major Hyderabad data-center region and is committing approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian cloud and AI operations. Early customers include Adani Group and HDFC Bank, supporting the case for long-term international Azure growth. Microsoft Opens Largest India Data Center Hub
- Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and institutional support remain strong. Microsoft recently exceeded quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, while Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square holds a reported $2.4 billion MSFT position. Scotiabank also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate and maintained an Outperform rating. Bill Ackman Microsoft Stake
- Neutral Sentiment: AI demand is powerful but concentrated. Reports suggest OpenAI may account for a substantial portion of Microsoft’s AI sales, creating both a major growth engine and customer-concentration risk. Microsoft’s large AI backlog also does not guarantee equivalent future profitability.
- Negative Sentiment: Spending, margins and valuation remain concerns. Rising data-center capital expenditures and lower cloud gross margins could pressure cash flow if AI infrastructure costs grow faster than revenue. After the sharp post-earnings rally, the stock is also more vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing guidance.
- Negative Sentiment: Insider sales and securities litigation add headline risk. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares for roughly $4.9 million, and multiple law firms are publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These developments do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on near-term sentiment.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. CLSA reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Arete Research raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Dbs Bank dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $558.87.
Read Our Latest Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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