Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,724 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,243 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.4% of Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd 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 grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure demand remains a major support. Microsoft’s reported $678 billion backlog of contracted cloud commitments provides visibility for future revenue and helps defend the company’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending. Microsoft Stock Rises as $678 Billion Backlog Supports AI Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is becoming a significant Azure AI customer. Meta reportedly spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually on Azure and consumes large volumes of AI tokens, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI services. Meta Platforms Emerges as a Major Microsoft Azure AI Client
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues investing in AI capabilities. The company is increasing fiscal 2027 capital expenditures to expand infrastructure, while internally developed AI chips could improve efficiency and margins over time. Its latest quarterly results also showed strong earnings and 17.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is hiring AI-capable legal talent and reportedly offering compensation of up to $279,000 for a legal engineer. The move highlights the company’s effort to integrate AI into commercial and compliance operations but is unlikely to materially affect near-term results. Microsoft Will Pay Up to $279K for a Lawyer Who Can Build AI
• Negative Sentiment: Higher yields are pressuring long-duration AI valuations. Rising interest rates reduce the present value of projected future AI profits, contributing to market questions despite Microsoft’s backlog and operating strength. Microsoft Slips as 4.68% Yield Tests Its $678 Billion Backlog
• Negative Sentiment: Technology stocks broadly declined Thursday afternoon, adding sector-driven pressure to MSFT. Investors are also monitoring concerns that large AI companies buying services from one another could create circular demand signals.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces geopolitical and execution risks. China is accelerating its move away from Windows, while continued AI capital spending raises questions about returns on investment. Recent insider activity also shows executive selling without reported purchases, a modest negative sentiment signal.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Arete Research lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective (up from $570.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Forty-two 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.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $481.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $417.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $408.78. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 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).