Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC trimmed its stake in Microsoft (MSFT) by 1.0% in Q4 and now owns 178,111 shares worth $86.14M, representing 5.4% of the firm's portfolio and making MSFT its 3rd-largest holding.
• Large institutions — including Vanguard, State Street, Geode and Northern Trust — have recently increased positions, and about 71.13% of MSFT is held by hedge funds and other institutional investors, signaling heavy institutional ownership.
• News flow is mixed: product and enterprise momentum (OpenAI/ChatGPT Images 2.0 and major Azure deals) supports growth, but risks include a UK £2.1B lawsuit and analyst price-target trims; consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a $576.66 target and a $0.91 quarterly dividend.

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 178,111 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,745 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.4% of Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $86,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI (backed by Microsoft) launched ChatGPT Images 2.0 — improvements to OpenAI’s image capabilities strengthen the product ecosystem that Microsoft leverages via its OpenAI partnership and Azure hosting, supporting longer-term AI revenue opportunities. OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Images 2.0 – Here’s What You Need to KnowArticle
• Positive Sentiment: Large enterprise deals deepen Azure and Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption — a five-year collaboration with Stellantis and industrial showcases at Hannover Messe (and Accenture partnerships) signal expanding, sticky enterprise AI workflows that drive cloud consumption and services revenue. Microsoft Deepens Industrial AI Role With Stellantis And Hannover Messe DealsArticle
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture’s agentic factory system debuts with Microsoft integrations — another indicator of enterprise traction for Azure-based AI platforms and professional services monetization. Accenture's New Agentic Factory System Debuts With MicrosoftArticle
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor chatter and analysts expect a rebound into earnings: social-media buzz and many buy ratings highlight Azure growth and AI backlog optimism ahead of Microsoft’s April 29 report — but the stock has drawn intense debate about valuation and execution. Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Opinions on Rebound Ahead of EarningsArticle
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox Game Pass price cut — the new Xbox leadership is trimming subscription prices to boost engagement; could lift user growth and retention but may compress near-term gaming revenue/margins. Microsoft cuts Game Pass subscription prices after new Xbox CEO promises to 'recommit' to gamersArticle
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup trimmed its MSFT price target from $635 to $600 but kept a buy rating — a reminder that analyst targets are being adjusted while consensus remains constructive (median targets still well above current levels). Finviz — Citigroup price target noteArticle
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. tribunal ruled Microsoft must face a £2.1B (~$2.8B) mass lawsuit alleging overcharging for Windows Server licenses on rival clouds — a sizeable litigation risk that could lead to material settlements and heightened regulatory/legal scrutiny. Microsoft must face $2.8 billion UK lawsuit over cloud computing licencesArticle
• Negative Sentiment: Analysis piece flags scrutiny of Microsoft’s AI investments and capital intensity — investors may worry about the pace, returns and governance of large AI capex and partnerships, which can pressure near-term margins and share performance. Microsoft AI Investments Face ScrutinyArticle

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $576.66.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $424.16 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $356.28 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $392.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $452.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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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