Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Has $27.62 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC reduced its Microsoft stake by 18.9% in Q4, selling 13,347 shares and ending the period with 57,103 shares worth approximately $27.62 million, about 1.3% of its portfolio and its 11th-largest holding.
• Institutional and insider activity was notable: other funds largely increased positions and institutional investors own 71.13% of MSFT, while insiders traded—Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares and EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares.
• Wall Street sentiment is constructive (consensus "Moderate Buy" with a target of $576.66) after a quarterly earnings beat and strengthening AI/Azure momentum, but Microsoft faces risks including a UK £2.1B (~$2.8B) lawsuit and scrutiny over AI capital intensity.

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,103 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 13,347 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.3% of Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. now owns 10,894 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,268,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 36,339 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Country Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 453,946 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $219,537,000 after purchasing an additional 25,882 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 46,450 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $22,464,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 31,824 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,635,000 after purchasing an additional 9,322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI (backed by Microsoft) launched ChatGPT Images 2.0 — improvements to OpenAI’s image capabilities strengthen the product ecosystem that Microsoft leverages via its OpenAI partnership and Azure hosting, supporting longer-term AI revenue opportunities. OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Images 2.0 – Here’s What You Need to KnowArticle
• Positive Sentiment: Large enterprise deals deepen Azure and Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption — a five-year collaboration with Stellantis and industrial showcases at Hannover Messe (and Accenture partnerships) signal expanding, sticky enterprise AI workflows that drive cloud consumption and services revenue. Microsoft Deepens Industrial AI Role With Stellantis And Hannover Messe DealsArticle
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture’s agentic factory system debuts with Microsoft integrations — another indicator of enterprise traction for Azure-based AI platforms and professional services monetization. Accenture's New Agentic Factory System Debuts With MicrosoftArticle
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor chatter and analysts expect a rebound into earnings: social-media buzz and many buy ratings highlight Azure growth and AI backlog optimism ahead of Microsoft’s April 29 report — but the stock has drawn intense debate about valuation and execution. Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Opinions on Rebound Ahead of EarningsArticle
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox Game Pass price cut — the new Xbox leadership is trimming subscription prices to boost engagement; could lift user growth and retention but may compress near-term gaming revenue/margins. Microsoft cuts Game Pass subscription prices after new Xbox CEO promises to 'recommit' to gamersArticle
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup trimmed its MSFT price target from $635 to $600 but kept a buy rating — a reminder that analyst targets are being adjusted while consensus remains constructive (median targets still well above current levels). Finviz — Citigroup price target noteArticle
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. tribunal ruled Microsoft must face a £2.1B (~$2.8B) mass lawsuit alleging overcharging for Windows Server licenses on rival clouds — a sizeable litigation risk that could lead to material settlements and heightened regulatory/legal scrutiny. Microsoft must face $2.8 billion UK lawsuit over cloud computing licencesArticle
• Negative Sentiment: Analysis piece flags scrutiny of Microsoft’s AI investments and capital intensity — investors may worry about the pace, returns and governance of large AI capex and partnerships, which can pressure near-term margins and share performance. Microsoft AI Investments Face ScrutinyArticle

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Evercore decreased their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Microsoft from $635.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $576.66.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.11. 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 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $392.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $452.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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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