Briggs Wealth Management Inc Purchases Shares of 1,644 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Briggs Wealth Management opened a new position in Microsoft, buying 1,644 shares worth about $795,000 in the fourth quarter. The stake now makes up roughly 0.9% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Microsoft continues to draw strong institutional interest, with 71.13% of shares owned by hedge funds and other institutions. Several other firms also recently increased or initiated positions in the stock.
• Despite some investor concerns around AI spending and valuation, Microsoft’s latest quarter showed strong fundamentals, including earnings and revenue that beat expectations and year-over-year revenue growth of 18.3%. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Briggs Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,644 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $795,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.9% of Briggs Wealth Management Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly building a more than $1 billion annual AI and cloud business with ByteDance in China, underscoring strong demand for its Azure and OpenAI-related services. Microsoft Scores Massive China AI Win as TikTok Parent Eyes $1 Billion Spend
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s push to monetize ChatGPT with ads highlights continued AI commercialization, which may support sentiment around Microsoft’s OpenAI stake and AI strategy. OpenAI Brings ChatGPT Ads to Japan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is said to be moving Copilot to usage-based pricing and exploring cheaper AI models, a sign it is trying to improve margins as AI infrastructure costs rise. Microsoft (MSFT) Moves Copilot To Usage Based Pricing As AI Costs Rise
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say investors are increasingly worried about Microsoft’s AI valuation, spending, and monetization, which is weighing on the stock. Microsoft Faces AI Expectations Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing securities class-action lawsuits and investigations over alleged misleading AI-related statements, adding legal uncertainty. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential $3 billion Oracle cloud deal suggest possible friction in securing additional cloud capacity. Why Microsoft Stock Slumped Today

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. China Renaissance reduced their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. President Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Arete Research upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $561.20.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $379.40 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The business's 50-day moving average is $412.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.11.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

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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