Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Lowered by EJMK Ventures LLC

Key Points

• EJMK Ventures LLC cut its Microsoft stake by 14.7% in the first quarter, selling 1,632 shares and leaving it with 9,469 shares worth about $3.5 million.
• Microsoft continues to get broadly bullish Wall Street support, with 41 analysts rating it a Buy and an average price target of $559.84, though some firms have recently trimmed targets or downgraded the stock.
• The company’s latest quarter showed strong fundamentals, with earnings and revenue beating estimates; however, investors are also watching risks from a securities fraud class action and concerns that customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft software.

EJMK Ventures LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,469 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,632 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.0% of EJMK Ventures LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. EJMK Ventures LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $559.84.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $385.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $402.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $414.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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