Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Has $260.08 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Kornitzer Capital Management trimmed its Microsoft stake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, but the position remains its largest holding at 537,779 shares worth about $260.1 million.
• Microsoft continues to draw strong institutional and analyst support, with hedge funds and asset managers owning 71.13% of the stock and Wall Street maintaining a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $560.88.
• The company posted solid quarterly results, including 18.3% revenue growth and earnings above estimates, while investors are also watching fresh AI and PC-related product news ahead of Build and Computex.

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 537,779 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 14,270 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.4% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Microsoft were worth $260,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. President Capital boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. China Renaissance decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Dbs Bank decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.88.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

Microsoft Trading Up 5.4%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $450.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business's fifty day moving average is $402.09 and its 200-day moving average is $434.62.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction 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 approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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