Strategic Investment Advisors MI Raises Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 27.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 41,426 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,813 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Strategic Investment Advisors MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Strategic Investment Advisors MI’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 28.5% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 39,599 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,657,000 after purchasing an additional 8,792 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 11.7% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 237,463 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,902,000 after buying an additional 24,778 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 461,233 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,735,000 after buying an additional 10,641 shares during the last quarter. IFS Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $1,662,000. Finally, Strategic Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1,733.0% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Planning Inc. now owns 32,115 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,888,000 after acquiring an additional 30,363 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. The trade was a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $496.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $409.70 and a 200 day moving average of $407.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman reaffirmed his bullish Azure thesis, arguing that continued capacity investment and Microsoft 365’s embedded customer base can support high-teens earnings growth. Microsoft Stock Rises as Ackman Reaffirms Azure Bet
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing accelerating Copilot adoption and infrastructure growth. Wells Fargo also maintained an overweight rating and lifted its target to $700, reinforcing the view that the stock’s AI-driven recovery has further upside. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft began gradually combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified AI platform. The planned “super app” could improve user adoption, cross-selling and Microsoft’s competitive position against ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Consumer and Enterprise Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft accepted IREN’s first AI data-center deployment under a $9.7 billion cloud agreement. The milestone supports Azure’s ability to secure additional computing capacity as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. IREN Hands Microsoft Its First AI Cloud Deployment
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly closing or restructuring numerous China offices and joint ventures, while retaining an Azure-linked presence. The move may reduce geopolitical exposure but could also limit access to the Chinese market. Microsoft Retreats in China
• Negative Sentiment: A report said Microsoft plans to cut carbon-removal purchases while AI-related emissions rise, creating potential reputational and environmental concerns. Microsoft Carbon Removal Purchases Report

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, President Capital upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.27.

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).