Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Obermeyer Wealth Partners' 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Obermeyer Wealth Partners trimmed its Microsoft stake by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, but Microsoft remains a major holding for the firm at 4.5% of its portfolio and its third-largest position, worth about $98 million.
• Microsoft’s latest earnings were strong, with quarterly EPS of $4.27 topping estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion also beating expectations, driven by 18.3% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Investor sentiment remains mixed but generally positive: analysts continue to rate the stock a Moderate Buy and highlight AI/cloud catalysts, though regulatory scrutiny in the UK and a GitHub security incident add near-term overhangs.

Obermeyer Wealth Partners lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,616 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,339 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.5% of Obermeyer Wealth Partners' investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Obermeyer Wealth Partners' holdings in Microsoft were worth $97,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Brown Financial Advisory increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 3,330 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 29,158 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,101,000 after acquiring an additional 8,932 shares in the last quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 70,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $34,141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,744,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden Reserve Retirement LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2,045.2% during the 4th quarter. Golden Reserve Retirement LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,094,000 after acquiring an additional 10,042 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Microsoft’s restructured OpenAI partnership looks like a net positive rather than a setback, reinforcing the view that MSFT remains a key beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption. Wedbush Views Microsoft (MSFT)’s Restructured OpenAI Partnership As Net Positive Rather Than Strategic Failure
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is still being framed as a leading AI and cloud winner, with commentary highlighting Azure growth, Copilot demand, and broader enterprise AI spending as long-term drivers. Wedbush Views Microsoft (MSFT)’s Restructured OpenAI Partnership As Net Positive Rather Than Strategic Failure
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is also attracting investor attention as a preferred AI holding, with one high-profile investor reportedly rotating out of Alphabet and into MSFT, which can be seen as a vote of confidence in the stock’s AI positioning. This Famous Investor Just Sold All Of His Alphabet Stock and Loaded Up On Microsoft Stock. Should You?
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a large purchase of 650,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits, suggesting continued investment in sustainability initiatives that may support its long-term corporate image and compliance goals. Microsoft's carbon removal plans aren't dead after all
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests Microsoft may be undervalued after a recent pullback, but that view is still debated and depends on whether AI spending translates into sustained earnings growth. Why Bill Ackman Thinks the Selloff in Microsoft Stock Is Misguided
• Negative Sentiment: The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a probe into Microsoft’s software practices, creating a regulatory overhang that could pressure sentiment if scrutiny expands. UK CMA Opens Probe Into Microsoft (MSFT) Software Practices
• Negative Sentiment: GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft, confirmed a security incident involving stolen internal repositories, adding a cybersecurity headline that could weigh on the stock near term. GitHub confirms 3,800 internal repos stolen through poisoned VS Code extension as supply chain worm hits Microsoft's Python SDK

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $421.06 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $398.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $438.30. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company'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 value of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $615.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.88.

About Microsoft

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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