Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 18,831 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $7,024,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.0% of Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Frankly Finances LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, CLSA reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.71.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of MSFT opened at $529.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $505.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $440.59.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Microsoft to remain the only major hyperscaler with positive free cash flow over the next year despite heavy AI investment. This reinforces confidence that the company can fund data-center expansion without substantial external financing. Microsoft Free Cash Flow Expected to Remain Positive
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft signed a 20-year agreement with NiSource for approximately 1,100 megawatts of power for an Indiana data-center campus beginning in 2028. Securing electricity supports future Azure capacity as grid constraints become a bottleneck for AI expansion. Microsoft Signs Power Deal With NiSource
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom Maia AI chips and reports that a new model achieved comparable or better performance than OpenAI’s system using a fraction of the computing power could eventually reduce reliance on expensive third-party GPUs and improve AI economics. Microsoft Wants to Make AI Cheaper
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on Azure growth, Copilot adoption, AI monetization and capital expenditures ahead of earnings. Strong demand could support the shares, but the market wants evidence that revenue growth is translating into sustainable margins.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Microsoft’s grip on business software and says Microsoft and Amazon Web Services may need to do more to address cloud-service barriers. Potential remedies could increase compliance costs or weaken customer-lock-in advantages. UK Regulator Targets Microsoft’s Business Software Grip
• Negative Sentiment: Questions remain over whether custom chips will deliver meaningful savings: AI infrastructure, power and data-center commitments are rising rapidly, while Microsoft is reportedly seeking substantial cost reductions in Azure. That creates concern about near-term free-cash-flow and margin pressure.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company’s principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.