Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Increased by NewEdge Advisors LLC

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,572,845 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,460 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.1% of NewEdge Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $582,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Edge Capital LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Edge Capital LLC now owns 22,813 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,445,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. First Nebraska Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth $33,641,000. Financial Solutions Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth $3,915,000. Dala Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth $1,796,000. Finally, Ramiah Investment Group boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% during the first quarter. Ramiah Investment Group now owns 1,445 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Evercore set a $528.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure business reportedly surpassed $100 billion in annual revenue, reinforcing confidence that AI demand is translating into substantial cloud growth. The company’s strong recent earnings, rising Microsoft 365 seat count and increasing adoption of premium E7 and Copilot offerings provide additional long-term growth support. Azure revenue article Microsoft 365 seats article
• Positive Sentiment: William Blair reaffirmed a Buy rating, citing early AI monetization and a constructive long-term risk-reward profile. Other coverage highlighted Microsoft’s ability to generate cash while investing heavily in AI infrastructure, distinguishing it from some competitors. Microsoft Buy rating article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is developing its Maia 300 AI accelerator, potentially reducing dependence on Nvidia processors and improving supply flexibility and infrastructure economics over time. Maia 300 chip article
• Neutral Sentiment: A partnership with Plug Power tested hydrogen fuel-cell backup power for Microsoft data centers. The trial could support data-center resilience, but Plug’s CEO said it does not represent a strategic pivot or an immediate material change for Microsoft. Plug Power and Microsoft article
• Negative Sentiment: A Guardian investigation raised questions about a possible shortfall in advanced AI chips installed across Microsoft’s facilities relative to its stated data-center expansion plans. Reports cited a potential gap of roughly 2.2 million chips, fueling concerns about deployment timing, capacity and near-term AI revenue growth. Microsoft chip capacity article
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley warned that heavy AI capital expenditure and rising debt-related obligations could pressure hyperscaler credit quality. Although Microsoft has a strong balance sheet, the warning increases scrutiny of whether massive infrastructure spending will generate adequate returns. Morgan Stanley hyperscaler warning

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $480.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $412.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $408.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.10.

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 firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

About Microsoft

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).