Investment Advisory Services Group LLC Acquires 3,222 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Investment Advisory Services Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 376.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,079 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,222 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Investment Advisory Services Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Investment Advisory Services Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $557.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $393.82 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $400.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $410.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is still getting support from Wall Street, with some analysts and portfolio managers reiterating buy ratings and arguing that Azure demand, Copilot adoption, and Microsoft 365 tailwinds can support long-term earnings power. Article: Josh Baer Reiterates Buy on Microsoft, Citing AI Leadership, Azure/M365 Budget Tailwinds and Underappreciated Earnings Power
• Positive Sentiment: A CIO survey and other commentary pointed to strong Azure demand at multi-year highs, reinforcing the view that Microsoft’s cloud and AI platform remains a core beneficiary of enterprise spending. Article: Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Surges on Strong Azure Demand in Latest CIO Survey
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also announced a multi-year AI infrastructure partnership with 3M, which investors viewed as another sign that its Azure ecosystem is expanding into real-world enterprise use cases. Article: Microsoft Stock Rebounds on 3M Optical Infrastructure Alliance
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella criticized Anthropic’s Fable restrictions and pushed for Microsoft to promote its own AI models more aggressively, highlighting the company’s effort to reduce reliance on outside AI vendors. Article: Microsoft’s Nadella rips Anthropic’s Fable restrictions in staff meeting: ‘Doesn’t make sense’
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is training its sales force to push in-house AI models over OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic suggest a strategic shift toward better control over costs and monetization, but the market is still waiting for proof that this approach boosts returns. Article: Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down OpenAI and Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports said analysts trimmed price targets ahead of earnings, and commentary stressed that investors are increasingly worried Microsoft’s AI spending spree could pressure margins before the payoff becomes visible. Article: Why Microsoft Is Playing a Different AI Game Than Big Tech—and Cash Flow Is the Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing added overhang from securities class-action deadlines and allegations tied to Copilot and Azure disclosures, which can keep pressure on sentiment even though these developments are not operational. Article: MSFT UPCOMING DEADLINE : The Gross Law Firm Alerts Microsoft Corporation Stockholders of Securities Class Action

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).