Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Pine Ridge Advisers LLC

Pine Ridge Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 45.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,850 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,340 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.3% of Pine Ridge Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Pine Ridge Advisers LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC raised its position 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 worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $496.88 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $409.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $407.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, President Capital boosted their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Microsoft News Summary

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).