Anchyra Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Anchyra Partners LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 8.1% in Q1, buying 2,347 additional shares and bringing its total to 31,499 shares worth about $11.66 million.
• Microsoft continues to attract strong institutional support, with major investors and hedge funds holding large positions; overall, 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• The article notes a mix of positive and negative developments for Microsoft: analysts remain broadly bullish on its AI leadership and recent earnings beat expectations, but concerns persist around higher capex, margin pressure, Xbox price increases, and regulatory scrutiny.

Anchyra Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,499 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,347 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.5% of Anchyra Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Anchyra Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,840,432,000 after acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft shares bounced as the broader memory and semiconductor market stabilized, helping relieve some of the pressure tied to AI infrastructure and component-cost fears.
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and other bullish commentators said the recent tech selloff may be a buying opportunity, arguing Microsoft remains a core AI leader despite near-term volatility. Dan Ives Says Microsoft And Meta Are Being Treated Like 'Bear Market' Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft was mentioned in new partnerships and product integrations, including Commvault, PitchBook, FPT, and ICON plc, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI ecosystem. Microsoft Just Made Commvault a Native Azure Service. Here Is How to Play CVLT Stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention from investors after Michael Burry disclosed a long position, which some traders viewed as a contrarian buy signal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles noted analysts still like the stock long term, but Wall Street remains focused on whether AI spending is destroying near-term margins and free cash flow. Wall Street Analysts Think Microsoft (MSFT) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel cut its Microsoft price target and warned that FY27 gross margin estimates may be too high because Azure growth is coming with heavier capex and margin pressure. Microsoft’s Stock Is Crippled
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft announced another worldwide Xbox price increase, citing soaring memory and storage costs, which adds to concerns that hardware inflation is squeezing the gaming business.
• Negative Sentiment: New legal and regulatory pressure also weighed on the stock, including an Italy antitrust probe into Microsoft 365 pricing and new shareholder class-action notices over alleged investor misinformation.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 target price (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Evercore decreased their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued a "market outperform" rating on the stock. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.86.

Microsoft Trading Up 5.7%

Shares of MSFT opened at $372.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.11. The business's fifty day moving average is $410.37 and its 200-day moving average is $421.47.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. 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 1.0%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade 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 90 days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft 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).

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