Hall Laurie J Trustee Decreases Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Hall Laurie J Trustee trimmed its Microsoft stake by 3.8% in Q4, selling 2,153 shares and leaving 54,175 shares worth $26.2 million; Microsoft now makes up about 8.7% of the fund and is its largest holding.
• Insider activity: Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares at about $397.35, while EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares at about $409.52, modestly shifting insider ownership.
• Microsoft recently beat quarterly estimates (EPS $4.14 vs. $3.86; revenue $81.27B), announced a $0.91 quarterly dividend (≈0.9% yield), and is rated a "Moderate Buy" by analysts with a consensus target of $577.58 and a market cap near $3.12 trillion.

Hall Laurie J Trustee trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,175 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,153 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 8.7% of Hall Laurie J Trustee's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Hall Laurie J Trustee's holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Historic multi‑day rally and an “extreme bounce” vs. options pricing — momentum traders are piling in after an unusually large short‑term rebound that options markets hadn’t priced. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: New commercial wins and partnerships widen enterprise AI reach — a five‑year strategic AI, cybersecurity and cloud deal with Stellantis expands Microsoft’s addressable market in automotive software and services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure buildouts support product adoption — Microsoft secured spare capacity at a Norway data center originally tied to OpenAI (adding large GPU capacity) and an early online Fairweather data center, strengthening Azure’s AI compute supply. Read More. • Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street support remains — TD Cowen reiterated a Buy with a $540 target (still below prior $610 target) and other analysts continue to see long‑term AI/cloud upside, giving investors conviction to buy the dip. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Government adoption of Microsoft AI tools (CFTC surveillance) highlights public‑sector demand but is unlikely to move near‑term revenue materially — reflects platform credibility more than a big immediate revenue boost. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Heavy options and unusual volume are amplifying moves — some of the price action reflects positioning and technical dynamics rather than fundamental news. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competition and product risk — reports that Anthropic/OpenAI moves and new models (Claude Mythos) could pressure Copilot adoption raise execution and competitive risk for Microsoft’s AI offerings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution and valuation headwinds — some firms recently cut price targets (Piper Sandler, Robert W. Baird, etc.) and investors remain concerned about heavy AI capex (data‑center spending) weighing on near‑term returns. Read More. • Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/ESG noise — the NYT piece on Microsoft scaling back carbon‑removal commitments could prompt criticism and potential impairments or higher scrutiny. Read More.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $420.26 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $355.67 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $391.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $455.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. New Street Research upped their price target on Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings cut Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $577.58.

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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