Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management cut its Microsoft stake by 3.9% in the first quarter, selling 8,886 shares and retaining 220,717 shares valued at approximately $81.7 million.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while analysts remain broadly positive: 42 rate it Buy and six Hold, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $554.73 price target.
• Microsoft’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $4.27 per share and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a 0.9% yield.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 220,717 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,886 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.4% of Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $81,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in Microsoft by 56,160.8% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,073,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $554.73.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $393.35 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $397.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $406.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled its first in-house cybersecurity AI model, MAI-Cyber-1-Flash, along with Project Perception, an agentic platform designed to detect and respond to AI-powered attacks. The products could strengthen Microsoft’s enterprise security position and create additional demand for Azure and security services. Microsoft launches AI cybersecurity model and defense platform
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remained bullish ahead of earnings. Citizens JMP reaffirmed a Market Outperform rating with a $550 target, while Piper Sandler maintained an Overweight rating and a $540 target—well above Microsoft’s recent trading range. Microsoft stock moves higher
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanding partnerships and integrations across Azure, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot support the argument that its broad enterprise ecosystem can monetize AI spending over time. Morgan Stanley estimates major technology companies could achieve 25%–50% returns on AI investments. AI capital expenditure plans

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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