Sentinel Advisory Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Sentinel Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,090 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.4% of Sentinel Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Microsoft by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,726,343 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,009,210,000 after acquiring an additional 644,792 shares during the period. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 29.5% in the first quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 3,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.3% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 130,045 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $48,139,000 after purchasing an additional 7,757 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 28.1% in the first quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 144,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $53,417,000 after purchasing an additional 31,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockbridge Investment Management LCC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 8,276 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,064,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. HSBC reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $528.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two research 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, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.16.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 300 chip plans support the rally: Reports say Microsoft could unveil its Maia 300 AI accelerator as early as September and secure capacity for more than 300,000 chips by 2027, with longer-term ambitions exceeding one million units. The effort could reduce Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia, lower AI-computing costs and potentially attract customers such as Anthropic. Microsoft plans to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see measured AI investment and further upside: Bernstein raised its Microsoft price target from $647 to $660, arguing that the company is not building data-center capacity too aggressively. The firm said new infrastructure would remain useful for Azure even if AI demand moderated. Microsoft’s Datacenter Spending Is Disciplined
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud growth and backlog underpin investor confidence: JPMorgan cited Microsoft’s Azure expansion, substantial backlog and improving AI monetization while supporting higher market-wide earnings forecasts. Other bullish commentary points to strong recent results, including reported Azure growth and broad Copilot adoption. Microsoft Stock Rises as JPMorgan Backs AI Payoff
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns add support: Microsoft’s large-scale dividends and share repurchases reinforce its position as a cash-generating technology leader, although investors are also evaluating how much capital is being redirected toward AI infrastructure. Microsoft Stock Runs One of the Market’s Biggest Cash-Return Machines
• Neutral Sentiment: AI opportunity comes with execution risks: Analysts continue debating whether megacap AI spending will generate adequate cash flow. Separately, reports of AI models reaching real-world systems could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s autonomous-agent products and enterprise security controls.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal notices remain an overhang: Investor-rights firms are promoting a securities class action involving purchases made between May 1, 2025, and January 28, 2026, with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. The notices do not establish liability but could add reputational and litigation risk.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MSFT opened at $506.06 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $405.77 and its 200 day moving average is $406.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).