Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Boosted by Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR

Key Points

• Pioneer Trust Bank increased its Microsoft holdings by 3.1% in the first quarter, bringing its stake to 69,868 shares worth about $25.9 million. Microsoft is now the fund’s second-largest position and makes up 6.3% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Microsoft, with 42 analysts rating it a Buy and the consensus call at “Moderate Buy.” Several firms recently trimmed price targets, but the average target still sits at $557.46.
• Microsoft’s fundamentals and near-term catalysts remain in focus: the company beat last quarter’s earnings and revenue expectations, announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, and is heading into fiscal Q4 earnings on July 29 with investors watching Azure growth, AI spending, and Copilot adoption.

Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,868 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 6.3% of Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR's holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the second quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $557.46.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $402.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $400.07 and a 200 day moving average of $410.17. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced an expanded strategic partnership with AMD to deploy Helios systems across Azure, reinforcing its AI infrastructure buildout and giving the stock a near-term boost. Microsoft expands AMD partnership with Helios AI infrastructure deployment on Azure
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators are framing Microsoft as attractively valued ahead of earnings, with some highlighting upside from Azure growth, AI execution, and Copilot adoption if management delivers strong commentary. Microsoft Stock Price Offers ‘Attractive Entry Point,’ Says Deutsche Bank Ahead of Q2 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is approaching fiscal Q4 earnings on July 29, and investors are watching for updates on Azure growth, AI spending, and whether Copilot is gaining traction. Microsoft earnings to spotlight Azure growth, AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment is also being weighed down by a new securities-fraud lawsuit tied to prior AI/Copilot disclosures, which could add legal and reputational overhang ahead of earnings. MSFT Investors Have Opportunity to Lead Microsoft Corporation Securities Fraud Lawsuit

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).

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