Balentine LLC Has $5.37 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Balentine LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 1,757 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 11,097 shares worth about $5.37 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Microsoft, with 39 analysts rating it a Buy and just seven a Hold; the consensus target price is $560.88 despite some recent target cuts.
• Microsoft’s latest results and capital returns remain strong, as the company beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, grew revenue 18.3% year over year, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Balentine LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,097 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Balentine LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Partners in Financial Planning raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Partners in Financial Planning now owns 2,593 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,254,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,248,000. Ellis Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,069 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,870,000 after buying an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 393,787 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $190,503,000 after buying an additional 40,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LVZ Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 5,121 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,477,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. New Street Research cut their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Daiwa Securities Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Microsoft Stock Up 5.4%

MSFT stock opened at $450.24 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $402.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $434.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for 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%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

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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