Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Has $176.42 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Kestra Private Wealth Services increased its Microsoft stake by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 15,587 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 364,798 shares valued at about $176.4 million.
• Microsoft’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $4.27 versus the $4.06 consensus and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on MSFT, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $560.88, even as some firms trimmed their targets.

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 364,798 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 15,587 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $176,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IRON Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.2% in the third quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,372,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the period. PMG Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,347,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant's stock worth $493,860,000 after buying an additional 9,700 shares during the period. Finally, Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $418.57 on Monday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $399.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $436.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. New Street Research reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Arete Research raised their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft's AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft's GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

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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