Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald trimmed its Microsoft stake by 8.2% in Q4, selling 1,355 shares and leaving 15,244 shares worth about $7.37 million.
• Microsoft beat Q3 estimates, reporting $4.27 EPS vs. $4.04 expected and $82.89 billion in revenue (up 18.3% YoY), with accelerating Azure growth and over 20 million paid Copilot users indicating strong AI/cloud momentum.
• Notable insider and shareholder signals: Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares (~$397.35 each) while EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares; the company announced a $0.91 quarterly dividend (yield ~0.9%) and carries an average analyst target of $563.72 (Moderate Buy).

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,244 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,355 shares during the quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $424.46 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average is $395.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $448.65. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.04 by $0.23. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders 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 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Scotiabank cut their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $563.72.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 EPS beat and revenue roughly in line — Microsoft reported $4.27 EPS, ahead of consensus, and revenue near Street expectations, which helped validate the company’s growth trajectory. Microsoft (MSFT) Beats Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Azure / Intelligent Cloud acceleration: management said cloud growth accelerated (company commentary and charts show mid-to-high‑30s/40% growth in Azure), easing investor worries that AI spending isn’t yet translating to demand. Microsoft tops Wall Street expectations, reports accelerating Azure growth and $37B AI run rate
• Positive Sentiment: Copilot adoption and monetization showing traction — Microsoft reported over 20M paid Copilot users with rising engagement, supporting future software/recurring-revenue upside. Microsoft says it has over 20M paid Copilot users
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance roughly in line — Q4 revenue guidance was near consensus, so the company isn’t signaling an immediate downshift, but investors will watch next‑quarter detail for AI margin leverage. Press release / slide deck
• Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn AI products on revenue track — Microsoft said LinkedIn hiring agents could reach ~$450M in annual revenue, a niche but tangible AI monetization path. LinkedIn's AI hiring agents on track for $450 million
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx surge and margin pressure — disclosures and third‑party summaries show capex rose sharply (large spend on data centers/AI hardware), which squeezes near‑term margins and fuels investor concern about ROI timing. Q3 earnings: capex surges (Quiver)
• Negative Sentiment: Partnership & competitive noise — OpenAI’s revised terms (non‑exclusive distribution) and the broader partner shifts to rivals like Amazon raise strategic questions about Microsoft’s privileged access and cloud leverage. OpenAI-Microsoft exclusivity reset coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Workforce and restructuring signals — Microsoft expects headcount to decline and has offered voluntary buyouts; that reduces near‑term payroll but underscores cost pressures tied to the AI buildout. Microsoft expects headcount to decrease

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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