IVY Lane Capital Management LLC Sells 10,000 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

IVY Lane Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 50.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,000 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.6% of IVY Lane Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. IVY Lane Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its Microsoft price target to $600. The upgrade follows Microsoft’s quarterly Azure performance, with analysts highlighting the 43% cloud-revenue increase and stronger-than-expected earnings as evidence that AI demand is translating into accelerating cloud growth. Citi Raises Microsoft Stock Target to $600
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s custom AI chips may improve cloud economics. CEO Satya Nadella said the company’s internally developed chips can deliver efficiency gains of up to 40%. Better cost and energy efficiency could help Microsoft support AI workloads while protecting Azure margins. Microsoft Custom AI Chips Improve Efficiency
• Positive Sentiment: Azure is expanding in India. Microsoft opened a major Hyderabad data-center region and is committing approximately $20.5 billion to its Indian cloud and AI operations. Early customers include Adani Group and HDFC Bank, supporting the case for long-term international Azure growth. Microsoft Opens Largest India Data Center Hub
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals and institutional support remain strong. Microsoft recently exceeded quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, while Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square holds a reported $2.4 billion MSFT position. Scotiabank also raised its fiscal 2027 EPS estimate and maintained an Outperform rating. Bill Ackman Microsoft Stake
• Neutral Sentiment: AI demand is powerful but concentrated. Reports suggest OpenAI may account for a substantial portion of Microsoft’s AI sales, creating both a major growth engine and customer-concentration risk. Microsoft’s large AI backlog also does not guarantee equivalent future profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Spending, margins and valuation remain concerns. Rising data-center capital expenditures and lower cloud gross margins could pressure cash flow if AI infrastructure costs grow faster than revenue. After the sharp post-earnings rally, the stock is also more vulnerable to profit-taking or disappointing guidance.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sales and securities litigation add headline risk. CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares for roughly $4.9 million, and multiple law firms are publicizing a securities class action with an August 11 lead-plaintiff deadline. These developments do not establish wrongdoing but may weigh on near-term sentiment.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research increased their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Argus decreased their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $558.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,572 shares of company stock valued at $17,775,330. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $499.99 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $404.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $406.96. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 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 Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.57 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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).