Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 397,731 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,239 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.7% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $148,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 108,335 shares of company stock valued at $53,499,700. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft will begin reporting quarterly Azure revenue in fiscal 2027 and reorganize its financial reporting from three segments into two AI-focused categories. Azure generated approximately $29.4 billion in quarterly revenue and $101.9 billion for fiscal 2026, providing investors with more visibility into cloud growth and AI demand. Microsoft to reveal Azure cloud sales in financial reporting shift
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reaffirmed a Buy rating and $600 price target, while other analysts cited Microsoft’s large AI backlog, Azure’s more than $100 billion annual revenue and the potential for improved AI economics. The company’s latest earnings also showed strong momentum, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and a substantial earnings beat. Analyst reaffirms Buy on Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched GPT-6 Astra, potentially strengthening Microsoft’s AI ecosystem and demand for Azure infrastructure. Microsoft is also securing long-term power capacity for data centers and expanding Microsoft 365 Copilot integrations. OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares worth about $43.4 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the sale limits its significance, although it reduced his holdings by 15.09% and adds to recent insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft will impose monthly limits on Xbox cloud-gaming hours for Game Pass subscribers beginning in November as service costs rise. The change may improve economics but could hurt consumer sentiment and gaming engagement. Microsoft to impose time limits on Xbox cloud gaming
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh Microsoft’s roughly $116 billion AI infrastructure spending plan, rising data-center costs and pressure on cloud margins. The key risk is whether the large backlog converts into profitable cash flow rather than simply future revenue.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $528.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.49.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.7%

Microsoft stock opened at $510.12 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $441.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $415.21. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

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).