Lbp Am Sa Lowers Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Lbp Am Sa reduced its stake in Microsoft by 0.1% in Q4, now owning 1,195,004 shares (about 6.7% of its holdings) valued at approximately $577.9 million, making MSFT the firm's largest holding.
• Strong operating results and AI/cloud momentum: Microsoft beat Q3 expectations (EPS $4.27 vs. $4.06) with revenue of $82.89B, up 18.3% year‑over‑year, supporting analyst upgrades and a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $562.44 target.
• Near‑term risks and insider moves: Rising capex plans (reported ~23% above expectations), a possible delay of the 2030 clean‑energy goal and a voluntary buyout program could pressure costs and execution, while insiders showed mixed activity (an EVP sold shares and a director purchased shares).

Lbp Am Sa reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,195,004 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,335 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.7% of Lbp Am Sa's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Lbp Am Sa's holdings in Microsoft were worth $577,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent results and AI/cloud momentum: Microsoft reported another quarter of strong cloud and AI-driven revenue growth (Q3 revenue up ~18%) and continued order‑book strength — underpinning the bull case for durable top-line expansion. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst lift: Some firms have raised targets (Arete bumped its target sharply), signaling that a portion of Wall Street sees upside from MSFT’s AI investments despite the pullback. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Xbox cost/strategy move: Xbox leadership stopped development of the console Copilot project — a move investors interpreted as removing a costly distraction and focusing resources on higher‑return AI/cloud work. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Government AI oversight: Microsoft agreed to give U.S. agencies early access to new models for national‑security testing — reduces regulatory uncertainty but also adds compliance scrutiny. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce buyouts announced: The company launched a major voluntary buyout program — lowers near‑term opex but risks losing institutional knowledge that could matter for complex AI projects. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Clean‑energy target under review: Reports say Microsoft may delay or abandon its hourly 2030 clean‑energy matching goal because rapid AI data‑center growth is increasing power demand — this raises potential operating costs, reputational risk and regulatory scrutiny. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher capex and margin pressure: Microsoft’s 2026 capex plan has risen sharply (reports ~23% above expectations, large multiyear AI/data‑center spending) — supports growth but increases near‑term cash outflows and could compress margins. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive/regulatory headwinds: Pentagon awarded a $500M AI contract to a Meta‑backed Scale AI, and other competitors are landing meaningful deals — reminders that Microsoft faces fast‑moving competition for AI infrastructure and government business. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst notes and trims: Some boutiques trimmed price targets despite beats, reflecting concerns that the market is pricing in AI costs rather than returns; this keeps downward pressure from more cautious investors. Read More.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price objective (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $562.44.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $414.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $396.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $446.04. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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