Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is SOA Wealth Advisors LLC.’s 6th Largest Position

SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 76,777 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,483 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of SOA Wealth Advisors LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Argus dropped their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $495.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $411.27 and a 200-day moving average of $408.50. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. 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) last released 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. The firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to highlight Microsoft’s Azure expansion, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, and the company’s ability to sustain double-digit earnings growth. Microsoft’s latest quarter also exceeded expectations, with revenue of approximately $90 billion and earnings growth supported by Azure. Microsoft’s Cloud Gains Can Sustain Double-Digit Earnings Growth
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing stronger Copilot demand and accelerating infrastructure investment. Other analysts remain bullish, with a six-month median target near $540, reinforcing investor confidence in Microsoft’s long-term AI positioning. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified platform, potentially improving distribution, user engagement, and monetization as it competes with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Copilot Applications
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the first AI data-center deployment under its $9.7 billion agreement with IREN, supporting Azure capacity expansion. The deal improves supply visibility but also underscores Microsoft’s substantial capital requirements. IREN Delivers First AI Cloud Deployment
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s roughly $175 billion AI infrastructure spending plan could pressure free cash flow and cloud margins. A reported decline in cloud gross margin and higher data-center, chip, electricity, and labor costs raise questions about how much of the company’s large AI backlog will translate into profit. Microsoft’s AI Backlog and Profitability Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft has closed at least 15 China offices and joint ventures add geopolitical and operational uncertainty, although Azure reportedly provides a profitable reason to retain a limited China presence. Microsoft Retreats in China

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).