YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 20,527 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,919 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 20,527 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.1% of YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. CLSA reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.49.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $496.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $438.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $414.45. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft will begin disclosing quarterly Azure revenue in fiscal 2027 and consolidate its reporting structure from three segments to two. The added transparency should allow investors to compare Azure more directly with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud and could highlight the scale of AI-driven demand. Microsoft to reveal Azure cloud sales in financial reporting shift
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $500, citing accelerating Azure growth, improving AI efficiency and more than 30 million paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats. The bullish view reinforces expectations that Microsoft can convert AI infrastructure spending into higher revenue and earnings. Microsoft’s AI strategy accelerates cloud growth and efficiency: analysts
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding its AI ecosystem through a 20-year power agreement supporting a planned West Texas data center, a HUMAIN partnership targeting up to one million enterprise users in the Middle East and Africa, and new Microsoft 365 Copilot integrations. These agreements support long-term cloud, infrastructure and productivity growth, although near-term profitability depends on execution. Microsoft Signed a 20-Year AI Power Deal With Chevron
• Neutral Sentiment: An EU court rejected Opera’s challenge to Microsoft Edge’s exemption from certain Digital Markets Act obligations. The ruling reduces an immediate regulatory burden for Edge, but its direct financial effect is likely limited. EU court rejects Opera challenge against Microsoft’s Edge exemption
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 MSFT shares worth approximately $43.4 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Although scheduled sales generally do not signal a change in business outlook, the transaction reduced his position by 15.09%; broader insider activity has also consisted entirely of sales over the past six months. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Form 4 filing
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Microsoft’s roughly $116 billion in annual property and equipment spending. The AI buildout could drive substantial growth, but depreciation, power constraints and uncertain returns may pressure margins if demand fails to keep pace. Big Tech Spent Over $1 Trillion on AI
• Negative Sentiment: Additional pressure came from reports of a controversial Windows 11 feature, continuing concerns about a Microsoft 365 outage, and criticism surrounding 3,200 Xbox job cuts. These issues may weigh on user sentiment and highlight risks in Microsoft’s consumer and gaming businesses. Xbox layoffs

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total value of $4,878,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 108,335 shares of company stock valued at $53,499,700 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).