Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 80,170 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $29,677,000.
A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Vertrix Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,956,000. Essex LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the first quarter. Essex LLC now owns 13,100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,849,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Tcfg Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,452,610 shares of the software giant's stock worth $537,713,000 after purchasing an additional 53,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DeLarme Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. DeLarme Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,962 shares of the software giant's stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Dbs Bank reduced their target price on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They set a "market outperform" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. President Capital boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target 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. Forty-one 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $559.84.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
More Microsoft News
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
- Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
- Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
- Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
- Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report
Microsoft Stock Performance
MSFT opened at $385.10 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $402.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $414.08.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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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