Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV Sells 4,505 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV cut its Microsoft position by 47.5% in the first quarter, selling 4,505 shares and leaving it with 4,977 shares valued at about $1.84 million.
• Microsoft’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $4.27 versus estimates of $4.06 and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable September 10, while analysts remain broadly constructive with a “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $559.84.

Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 47.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,977 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,505 shares during the period. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Taylor Securities Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,616,000. PMG Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $828,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2,332.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,262,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,468,645 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 272,424 shares of the software giant's stock worth $131,750,000 after purchasing an additional 49,371 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $385.10. The company had a trading volume of 24,605,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,511,868. The company has a fifty day moving average of $402.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $414.58. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DZ Bank reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus lowered their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Citigroup initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a "market outperform" rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered their target price on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $559.84.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

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).

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