FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Sells 6,781 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co of Long Beach reduced its Microsoft stake by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,781 shares and ending with 60,109 shares worth about $29.1 million.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 topping estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion also beating forecasts. Revenue rose 18.3% year over year, underscoring continued business momentum.
• The company’s AI strategy remains a major catalyst, with news of deeper enterprise AI partnerships and product integrations supporting bullish analyst sentiment. Wall Street currently has Microsoft at a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $560.88.

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,109 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,781 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.6% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $418.57 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $399.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $436.92. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 is 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.88.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft's AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft's GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

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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