Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is AE Wealth Management LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its Microsoft stake by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, making MSFT its 3rd-largest holding. The fund now owns 1,031,541 shares valued at about $498.9 million.
• Microsoft reported a strong earnings beat for the latest quarter, with EPS of $4.27 versus $4.06 expected and revenue of $82.89 billion versus $81.44 billion forecast. Quarterly revenue rose 18.3% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive on the stock, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.69. Microsoft also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable June 11.

AE Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,031,541 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 151,592 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.9% of AE Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $498,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IRON Financial LLC increased its position 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 valued at $3,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant's stock worth $493,860,000 after purchasing an additional 9,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $396.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $445.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. 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 fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The company 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Daiwa Securities Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Dbs Bank cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $562.69.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

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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