CM Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 6,725 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• CM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 58.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,725 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 18,177 shares valued at about $8.79 million.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $4.27 per share versus the $4.06 estimate and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $562.69, even though some firms recently trimmed their targets. Institutional ownership remains high at 71.13%.

CM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 58.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,177 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 6,725 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.0% of CM Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. CM Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during 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. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $505.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Arete Research upped their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Dbs Bank reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $562.69.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $396.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $445.39.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

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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