Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Cidel Asset Management Inc.'s Largest Position

Key Points

• Cidel Asset Management trimmed its Microsoft stake by 6.2% in Q4 to 157,288 shares, leaving MSFT as its largest position at about 5.4% of holdings and worth $76.07 million.
• Insider activity was mixed: Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares at $397.35 on Feb. 18, while EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares at $409.52 on Mar. 6.
• Microsoft topped quarterly expectations with EPS of $4.14 (vs. $3.86) and revenue of $81.27B (+16.7% YoY) and announced a $0.91 quarterly dividend ($3.64 annual, ~0.9% yield).

Cidel Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 157,288 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 10,475 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.4% of Cidel Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Cidel Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $76,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.07 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $355.67 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $391.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $452.88. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.91 dividend. 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 is 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Bank of America started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Evercore reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Microsoft from $610.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $577.58.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft brought its Fairwater AI data center online ahead of schedule, a flagship facility Nadella called “the world’s most powerful” — supports MSFT’s edge in AI infrastructure and capacity expansion. Satya Nadella Praises 'World's Most Powerful' AI Datacenter Going Live Early
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is partnering with Accenture on an “agentic factory” AI system and appears to be deepening enterprise AI partnerships — this should drive cloud/AI services demand and long-term ARR expansion. Accenture's New Agentic Factory System Debuts With Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Adobe expanded its AI ecosystem and signed integrations with Microsoft, Anthropic, OpenAI and Nvidia — a vote of confidence in MSFT’s platform relevance and partner momentum. Adobe (ADBE) Inks Partnership with Microsoft (MSFT), Anthropic, OpenAI, and Nvidia (NVDA)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and investors are focused on Microsoft’s April 29 fiscal Q3 report; Evercore reiterates Buy and frames the quarter as “survive and advance,” so near-term volatility may hinge on guidance. Here’s What Evercore Expects from Microsoft’s Q3 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector theme: massive corporate capex into AI data centers is boosting infrastructure spending but not hiring — positive for hyperscalers’ capex-driven revenue opportunities, though it raises scrutiny on margin mix. AI data center spending is booming. Jobs aren't. Here's why
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary highlights both downside pressure (YTD drawdown) and contrarian buy cases; Zacks and other outlets flag MSFT as a hyperscaler to watch for AI-quantum upside. Top 2 AI-Quantum Hyperscalers to Watch in April With 20%+ Price Upside
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s stock has underperformed the broader market today and this week as investors price in increased competition from new AI tools (e.g., Anthropic/Claude variants, xAI Grok plugins) that could pressure software volumes or product mix. Here's Why Microsoft (MSFT) Fell More Than Broader Market
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts and caution: TD Cowen and others have trimmed targets, and Bank of America reset forecasts ahead of earnings — sentiment and lower targets add near-term selling pressure. Bank of America resets Microsoft stock forecast ahead of earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/sovereign risk: reports that Switzerland is reconsidering reliance on Microsoft raised headlines about potential contract/market risks in Europe. “Reduce Its Dependency on Microsoft”: Microsoft Stock NASDAQ: MSFT Slips as Switzerland Reconsiders
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about AI disruption to legacy products persists — several outlets debate whether new agentic AI offerings will cannibalize Microsoft’s traditional software revenue. Should You Sell Microsoft (MSFT) on AI Disruption Fears?

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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