First Merchants Corp Reduces Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• First Merchants Corp cut its Microsoft stake by 4.3% in the first quarter, selling 4,573 shares and leaving it with 100,593 shares worth about $37.2 million.
• Microsoft continues to attract heavy institutional ownership, with 71.13% of the stock held by institutions, even as several other funds recently made large changes to their positions.
• Recent insider activity was also notable: CEO Judson Althoff and EVP Amy Coleman both sold shares, though analysts still view the stock favorably overall with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $560.86.

First Merchants Corp decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,593 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,573 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.4% of First Merchants Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $29,073,486,000 after buying an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of 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 holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.86.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to secure new enterprise AI and cloud partnerships, including expanded collaborations around Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure, which support its long-term AI monetization story.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s 20-year power agreement tied to its Texas data-center buildout helps de-risk AI infrastructure expansion and supports cloud capacity growth.
• Positive Sentiment: ICON plc selected Microsoft as a preferred technology partner, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s AI and productivity tools in healthcare and enterprise workflows.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators remain split: some still view Microsoft as a high-quality AI platform with strong long-term upside, while others say the stock has been oversold and may be approaching a valuation reset.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft was also named in multiple new or ongoing lawsuits and class-action notices tied to alleged securities issues and copyright claims involving AI training data, adding headline risk but no immediate operating impact yet.
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel cut its price target on Microsoft and said Wall Street’s gross-margin expectations may be too high as Azure growth and AI capex pressure cloud profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox price hikes and repeated gaming price increases suggest hardware cost inflation is squeezing a business line that had already been weakening.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern over heavy AI spending, shrinking free cash flow, and lower cloud-margin expectations is weighing on sentiment and helping explain why MSFT is falling.
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators said Microsoft Azure may face stricter “gatekeeper” rules under the Digital Markets Act, raising the possibility of more compliance burden and oversight in Europe.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s quantum-computing claims also came under renewed criticism, which adds to skepticism around some of its more speculative AI-related initiatives.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.5%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $352.83 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $411.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $421.81. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

About Microsoft

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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