GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Sells 38,482 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• GF Fund Management cut its Microsoft stake by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 38,482 shares and leaving it with 717,210 shares valued at about $346.9 million.
• Microsoft continues to attract broad institutional interest, with 71.13% of shares held by institutional investors and several funds recently adding modestly to their positions.
• Analysts remain constructive overall: Microsoft has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and a consensus price target of $562.69, even though some firms recently trimmed targets or downgraded the stock.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 717,210 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 38,482 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.9% of GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $346,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BLVD Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the third quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the third quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 price objective (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 24th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, President Capital boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $562.69.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.0%

MSFT opened at $415.00 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $396.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $445.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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