Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Verdence Capital Advisors trimmed its Microsoft stake by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, but MSFT still remains its 3rd-largest holding at about $44.1 million and 2.6% of portfolio value.
• Microsoft continues to be framed as an AI beneficiary, with headlines highlighting talks around Anthropic using its Maia AI chips, a ChatGPT integration into PowerPoint, and a $1 billion AI partnership with EY.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, including EPS of $4.27 versus $4.06 expected and revenue of $82.89 billion, while analysts remain broadly bullish with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $560.88.

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 91,104 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,738 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.6% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $44,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Microsoft News

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?

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.57 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $399.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $437.48. The company 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS 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 company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $505.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $615.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the 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 directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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).

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.