Groupama Asset Managment Sells 5,017,357 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Managment cut its Microsoft stake by 82.6% in the fourth quarter, selling more than 5.0 million shares. Even after the sale, Microsoft remained the firm’s largest holding at about 7.4% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $4.27 versus estimates of $4.06 and revenue of $82.89 billion topping forecasts. Revenue rose 18.3% year over year, and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive on MSFT, with 41 Buy ratings and only 6 Hold ratings, giving it a Moderate Buy consensus. However, recent headlines include insider selling and legal overhangs tied to AI/Copilot-related class actions.

Groupama Asset Managment reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 82.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,057,164 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,017,357 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 7.4% of Groupama Asset Managment's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Microsoft were worth $510,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings 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. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $379.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $412.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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, 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft 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 transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New reporting suggests Microsoft is still benefiting from strong AI demand, including ByteDance spending more than $1 billion annually on Azure AI services and broader commentary that Azure growth and AI run-rate remain major drivers of investor interest. Microsoft Builds $1 Billion-Plus AI Business With ByteDance
• Positive Sentiment: Several pieces argued Microsoft’s pullback may be creating a buying opportunity because the company still has strong cash flow, dividend growth, and discounted valuation relative to its AI prospects. Microsoft's Boring Stock Story May Be Its Biggest Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention for product and ecosystem updates, including a possible PayPal integration for Xbox buy-now-pay-later checkout and new Teams features, but these are not likely near-term stock movers. Microsoft Sizes Up PayPal as Xbox Leak Exposes Buy Now Pay Later Plans
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced or promoted securities class actions tied to Microsoft, alleging investors were harmed by misleading AI/Copilot-related statements during the May 2025 to January 2026 period. These legal headlines can weigh on sentiment. Portnoy Law Firm Announces Class Action on Behalf of Microsoft Corporation Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Another negative overhang is the claim that Copilot functionality issues contributed to a sharp stock drop, reinforcing investor concerns about execution risk and AI spending efficiency. Investor Rights Alert: Microsoft Faces Securities Fraud Class Action after Copilot Issues
• Negative Sentiment: There is also renewed concern that Microsoft’s gaming strategy is under pressure, with coverage pointing to the Steam Machine and broader cost-cutting in gaming as threats to growth in that segment. The Biggest Threat to Microsoft’s Gaming Ambitions is the Steam Machine

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. New Street Research reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $561.20.

Microsoft 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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