Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Sanctuary Advisors LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, ending with 977,087 shares worth about $472.5 million. Microsoft is now the fund’s second-largest holding and makes up roughly 2.6% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft’s latest earnings topped expectations, with EPS of $4.27 versus $4.06 expected and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. The company also reported strong profitability, including a 31.94% return on equity and a 39.34% net margin.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on MSFT, with 39 Buy ratings and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. Analysts’ average price target is $560.88, while recent news highlights ongoing AI-driven catalysts, including partnerships and product integrations.

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 977,087 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 8,616 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.6% of Sanctuary Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $472,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. New Street Research reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.88.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.57 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $399.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $437.48. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft's AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft's GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 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.