Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Has $10.70 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,891 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.8% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $558.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 15.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $451.10 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $397.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $405.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 33.07%. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued 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 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations: Azure revenue increased 43%, ahead of roughly 40% analyst expectations, and annual Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time. The performance eased concerns that demand for AI infrastructure might be slowing. Microsoft tops quarterly cloud growth estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings beat: Microsoft reported $4.74 in adjusted EPS versus a $4.24 consensus estimate and $90.01 billion in revenue versus expectations of $87.62 billion. Revenue rose 17.7% year over year, while profit increased about 31%. Microsoft fourth-quarter earnings
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization is accelerating: Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, while management described the next growth phase as a “per seat plus consumption” model. Investors viewed Azure and Copilot adoption as evidence that AI investments are translating into commercial demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Spending concerns moderated: Microsoft held its capital-expenditure outlook broadly steady and said it expects continued cash generation in fiscal 2027. Management also said GPU spending could be adjusted if demand weakens, helping counter fears of unchecked AI-related cash burn. Microsoft keeps capex forecast unchanged
• Positive Sentiment: Backlog and analyst support improved: Commercial remaining performance obligations reached a record $678 billion, up 84% year over year. RBC, Goldman Sachs, BMO, TD Cowen and DA Davidson were among firms maintaining positive ratings or raising targets.
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox strategy: New gaming chief Asha Sharma aims to exceed peers’ margins by 2030 through Minecraft investment and partnerships, including in China. The plan could support longer-term profitability but remains execution-dependent. Microsoft Xbox margin plan
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain: Wiz reported a cloud vulnerability that could have exposed Microsoft customers, while U.K. regulators are investigating Microsoft 365 subscription marketing. Several securities-fraud law firms also publicized shareholder lawsuits. These developments are potential overhangs, although they did not offset the earnings-driven optimism.

Microsoft Company 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).