Kathmere Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Kathmere Capital Management increased its Microsoft stake by 8.6% in Q1, buying 3,429 more shares and bringing its total to 43,483 shares worth about $16.1 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted Microsoft holdings, and hedge funds and institutions now own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
• Microsoft’s recent earnings topped expectations, with EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89 billion, while analysts remain broadly positive despite some recent target cuts and rating changes.

Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,483 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 3,429 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.0% of Kathmere Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Kathmere Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,096,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Taylor Securities Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $2,616,000. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth $828,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management boosted its position in Microsoft by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2,332.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,262,509,000 after buying an additional 6,468,645 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 272,424 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $131,750,000 after buying an additional 49,371 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value 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 approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "market outperform" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Dbs Bank dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $557.96.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is still getting support from Wall Street, with some analysts and portfolio managers reiterating buy ratings and arguing that Azure demand, Copilot adoption, and Microsoft 365 tailwinds can support long-term earnings power. Article: Josh Baer Reiterates Buy on Microsoft, Citing AI Leadership, Azure/M365 Budget Tailwinds and Underappreciated Earnings Power
• Positive Sentiment: A CIO survey and other commentary pointed to strong Azure demand at multi-year highs, reinforcing the view that Microsoft’s cloud and AI platform remains a core beneficiary of enterprise spending. Article: Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Surges on Strong Azure Demand in Latest CIO Survey
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also announced a multi-year AI infrastructure partnership with 3M, which investors viewed as another sign that its Azure ecosystem is expanding into real-world enterprise use cases. Article: Microsoft Stock Rebounds on 3M Optical Infrastructure Alliance
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella criticized Anthropic’s Fable restrictions and pushed for Microsoft to promote its own AI models more aggressively, highlighting the company’s effort to reduce reliance on outside AI vendors. Article: Microsoft's Nadella rips Anthropic's Fable restrictions in staff meeting: 'Doesn't make sense'
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is training its sales force to push in-house AI models over OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic suggest a strategic shift toward better control over costs and monetization, but the market is still waiting for proof that this approach boosts returns. Article: Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down OpenAI and Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports said analysts trimmed price targets ahead of earnings, and commentary stressed that investors are increasingly worried Microsoft’s AI spending spree could pressure margins before the payoff becomes visible. Article: Why Microsoft Is Playing a Different AI Game Than Big Tech—and Cash Flow Is the Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing added overhang from securities class-action deadlines and allegations tied to Copilot and Azure disclosures, which can keep pressure on sentiment even though these developments are not operational. Article: MSFT UPCOMING DEADLINE : The Gross Law Firm Alerts Microsoft Corporation Stockholders of Securities Class Action

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $393.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $400.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

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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