Sanders Morris Harris LLC Sells 23,419 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Sanders Morris Harris LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 82.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,888 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 23,419 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.1% of Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after acquiring an additional 980,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly preparing to launch its Maia 300 AI accelerator as soon as this fall and is discussing production with TSMC. Developing proprietary chips could reduce long-term reliance on Nvidia, improve supply-chain control, and support Microsoft’s expanding AI infrastructure. Microsoft’s Betting Big on Its Own AI Chips
• Positive Sentiment: Meta has reportedly become one of Microsoft’s largest Azure AI customers, spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually and consuming substantial computing capacity. The relationship reinforces evidence that enterprise demand is translating into Azure revenue. Meta Emerges as a Major Microsoft Azure AI Client
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, while Azure revenue reportedly surpassed $100 billion. Analysts and financial commentators also highlighted a roughly $678 billion backlog and continued strong demand for cloud and AI services. Microsoft Raises Dividend as AI Capital Spending Hits Record Levels
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the Horizon 1 Texas data-center project involving IREN, potentially expanding capacity available for AI workloads. The development is strategically relevant, although the near-term financial benefit to Microsoft remains unclear. Microsoft Accepts Horizon 1
• Negative Sentiment: Annual capital spending has climbed nearly 80% to about $115.9 billion, while free cash flow declined. Investors remain focused on whether AI revenue growth will generate adequate returns on this spending. Microsoft Spent $115.9 Billion on AI
• Negative Sentiment: TCI Management reportedly exited its Microsoft position and increased its Alphabet stake, adding a notable institutional-selling signal. Separately, commentary warned that Microsoft’s valuation depends on optimistic earnings forecasts, while higher bond yields could reduce the present value of future AI profits. TCI Exits Microsoft

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $483.24 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $419.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $409.30. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.65 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Phillip Securities cut Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. New Street Research reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target 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 and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.27.

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).