Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Bellevue Asset Management LLC's Largest Position

Bellevue Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,594 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,944 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 24.2% of Bellevue Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Bellevue Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 105,311 shares of the software giant's stock worth $38,983,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the first quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Research Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 58.1% during the first quarter. Syntax Research Inc. now owns 10,842 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,013,000 after buying an additional 3,984 shares in the last quarter. Lynch Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 24.5% during the first quarter. Lynch Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,425 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,412,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merited Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Merited Wealth LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the software giant's stock worth $884,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company'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 value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $390.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $401.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $413.41.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several recent articles highlighted Microsoft’s AI strategy as a growth driver, including comments from CEO Satya Nadella about “the next massive AI trade” and enterprise customers integrating more partner AI tools into Microsoft’s ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remained constructive ahead of Microsoft’s late-July earnings report, with bullish notes pointing to strong Azure growth, large commercial backlog, and expectations that AI spending can support longer-term revenue growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple market write-ups argued Microsoft may be undervalued after this year’s pullback, with some firms seeing meaningful upside if the company converts AI and Azure demand into earnings growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw long-term investor support from institutional buying, government contract wins, and favorable analyst ratings, which helps reinforce confidence but is not a fresh catalyst by itself. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are also being weighed by class-action lawsuit headlines tied to alleged Copilot-related misrepresentations and securities fraud claims, which add legal overhang and headline risk for investors. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern also remains centered on Microsoft’s heavy AI capital spending and environmental impact, with some commentary questioning whether rising capex and emissions can eventually pressure margins or sentiment. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a "market outperform" rating on the stock. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $559.84.

Microsoft Company 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).

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.