FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Sells 2,336 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH reduced its Microsoft stake by 3.9% in the first quarter, selling 2,336 shares and leaving it with 57,773 shares valued at about $21.4 million.
• Microsoft continues to attract strong institutional interest, with 71.13% of shares held by hedge funds and other institutions, including large positions from Vanguard, State Street, and Geode Capital Management.
• Recent news flow is mixed but still broadly constructive: Microsoft is benefiting from AI and cloud partnerships and bullish analyst commentary, though concerns remain about margin pressure, higher capex, Xbox price increases, and regulatory/legal scrutiny.

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH trimmed its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,773 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,336 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.0% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft shares bounced as the broader memory and semiconductor market stabilized, helping relieve some of the pressure tied to AI infrastructure and component-cost fears.
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and other bullish commentators said the recent tech selloff may be a buying opportunity, arguing Microsoft remains a core AI leader despite near-term volatility. Dan Ives Says Microsoft And Meta Are Being Treated Like 'Bear Market' Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft was mentioned in new partnerships and product integrations, including Commvault, PitchBook, FPT, and ICON plc, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI ecosystem. Microsoft Just Made Commvault a Native Azure Service. Here Is How to Play CVLT Stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention from investors after Michael Burry disclosed a long position, which some traders viewed as a contrarian buy signal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles noted analysts still like the stock long term, but Wall Street remains focused on whether AI spending is destroying near-term margins and free cash flow. Wall Street Analysts Think Microsoft (MSFT) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel cut its Microsoft price target and warned that FY27 gross margin estimates may be too high because Azure growth is coming with heavier capex and margin pressure. Microsoft’s Stock Is Crippled
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft announced another worldwide Xbox price increase, citing soaring memory and storage costs, which adds to concerns that hardware inflation is squeezing the gaming business.
• Negative Sentiment: New legal and regulatory pressure also weighed on the stock, including an Italy antitrust probe into Microsoft 365 pricing and new shareholder class-action notices over alleged investor misinformation.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore lowered their target price on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $372.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $410.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $421.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio 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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