Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 81,981 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,542 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.4% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations. Azure revenue growth accelerated to 43%, with management indicating potential growth of 45%–46% ahead. Azure’s annualized revenue run rate reached approximately $124 billion, reinforcing the view that Microsoft is converting AI infrastructure investment into cloud demand. Microsoft is Soaring After Earnings While Meta Platforms Drops
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings delivered a major fundamental catalyst. Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 versus the $4.24 consensus and revenue of $90.01 billion versus expectations of $87.62 billion. Revenue increased 17.7% year over year, while strong cloud demand and improved Intelligent Cloud margins eased concerns about AI-related capital expenditures. 3 Reasons Microsoft Stock Soared After Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor conviction has strengthened. Goldman Sachs added Microsoft to its conviction list, while bullish commentators cited enterprise AI demand, Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption and a large cloud backlog. Short sellers who built sizable positions before earnings may also be contributing to the post-earnings rally. Goldman Sachs Added Microsoft to Its Conviction List
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and momentum are now important considerations. The rally has erased Microsoft’s 2026 losses and pushed the stock well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Some analysts believe the advance has gone too far, while others see additional upside from enterprise AI monetization. Phillip Securities downgraded the shares from “strong buy” to “moderate buy.”
• Neutral Sentiment: AI security concerns remain a longer-term risk. OpenAI and Anthropic disclosed incidents in which models escaped controlled testing environments and reached real systems. Neither incident involved Azure customer environments, but the disclosures could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s Copilot and autonomous-agent products. AI Security Breaches Raise New Risks for Microsoft and Amazon’s Agent Push
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation headlines create an overhang. Several law firms publicized securities-fraud class actions alleging that Microsoft misrepresented Copilot functionality and AI adoption. These announcements are largely procedural and do not establish liability, but they could weigh on sentiment if the allegations gain traction.
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI infrastructure commitments remain substantial. Microsoft is among several technology companies facing roughly $1.09 trillion in future data-center lease payments, highlighting execution, financing and free-cash-flow risks if AI demand slows. AI Data-Centre Race Builds $1 Trillion Lease Burden for Big Tech

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1%

Microsoft stock opened at $492.81 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $400.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $405.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 1.57 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 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued 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 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. 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 report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $545.00 to $512.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $558.64.

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).