Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Increased by Grove Bank & Trust

Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,203 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,369 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.4% of Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.1% during the second quarter. Legacy Solutions LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $730,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Ridgeline Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 443.0% in the second quarter. Ridgeline Wealth LLC now owns 4,192 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,420 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 32,106 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,976,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 300.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 11,842 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,417,000 after buying an additional 8,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TTRF Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,775,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore set a $528.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, President Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $481.15 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $553.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $417.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $408.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.11. 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 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 return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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).