Castellan Group Sells 10,919 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Castellan Group cut its Microsoft stake by 63.8% in the first quarter, selling 10,919 shares and leaving it with 6,200 shares worth about $2.3 million.
• Wall Street remains largely bullish on Microsoft, with 40 Buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $560.98, despite some firms trimming targets recently.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share payable on September 10.

Castellan Group lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 63.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,200 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 10,919 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.3% of Castellan Group's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Castellan Group's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $2,616,000. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $828,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2,332.1% in 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 increased 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 valued at $131,750,000 after purchasing an additional 49,371 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. HSBC lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. New Street Research reduced 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Forty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.98.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is shifting more Excel and Outlook AI prompts to its own MAI models instead of relying on OpenAI and Anthropic, a move that could reduce AI costs and improve long-term profitability. Microsoft joins AI cost-cutting trend by relying more on its own models
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and market commentators argue Microsoft is trading at a rare discount after its recent pullback, suggesting some investors see the sell-off as a buying opportunity ahead of earnings later this month. Microsoft (MSFT) Is Trading at a Rare Discount. I See a Buying Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced it will report fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 results on July 29, keeping attention on cloud growth, AI spending, and whether margin pressure is easing. Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft continues to get positive attention from some market voices, including CNBC’s “Final Trades,” but this is more sentiment support than a direct fundamental catalyst. Nvidia, Microsoft, ServiceNow And More On CNBC’s ‘Final Trades’
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox unit is facing a deep reset, including roughly 3,200 job cuts and studio divestitures, reinforcing concerns that parts of the business are struggling and that layoffs may not be done yet. Microsoft’s Xbox to Cut 3200 Jobs, Divest Five Studios in Major Overhaul
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also dealing with multiple shareholder lawsuits and deadline reminders tied to alleged securities fraud and Copilot-related disclosures, which adds an overhang on sentiment. MSFT Investment Loss: Microsoft Investors that Lost Money after Copilot Functionality Issues Disclosed are Notified to Contact BFA Law about the Filed Securities Fraud Class Action

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $383.34 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $404.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $415.50. The company has a market cap of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Microsoft Company 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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