Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Lessened by Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group trimmed its Microsoft stake by 4.3% in the first quarter, selling 3,703 shares. The firm still held 82,516 shares valued at about $30.5 million, making Microsoft its 11th-largest position.
• Microsoft continues to receive mostly bullish Street coverage, with the analyst consensus remaining “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.86. Out of 47 analysts tracked, 41 rate the stock a Buy while six rate it Hold.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates with $4.27 EPS and $82.89 billion in revenue, up 18.3% year over year. Microsoft also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable September 10.

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,516 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,703 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.1% of Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. HSBC reduced their price target on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $560.86.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a new AI deployment business, Microsoft Frontier Company, backed by $2.5 billion and staffed with about 6,000 engineers and industry experts to help enterprises select, implement, and improve AI tools. Investors are viewing this as a way to accelerate Azure and Copilot adoption while monetizing the enterprise AI buildout. Microsoft launches its own AI deployment company with $2.5 billion commitment
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Microsoft as a top AI and growth stock, while others said the market is rotating from semiconductors back toward software. That is helping sentiment around MSFT as investors look for higher-quality AI beneficiaries with recurring enterprise revenue. Microsoft launches firm to help companies adopt AI with $2.5 billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also reported to be overhauling Copilot to make its AI assistant more useful and easier to justify for customers. That could improve adoption, but it also underscores that AI products must now prove their value. Microsoft’s Copilot Reset Shows AI Tools Must Now Prove Their Worth
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a new undersea cable partnership with Lightstorm to expand India-Southeast Asia connectivity, plus a report that enterprise customers continue to adopt Microsoft’s AI and cloud services. These are strategically helpful, but not immediate catalysts. Microsoft partners with Singapore's Lightstorm to build India-Southeast Asia undersea cable
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment is still being held back by Microsoft’s weak recent stock performance, with articles noting its worst month in more than 25 years and renewed debate about whether the selloff is creating a buying opportunity. Microsoft Had Its Worst Month in More Than 25 Years. Should Investors Buy the Crash?
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing class-action securities litigation over alleged misrepresentations during the class period, which adds a legal overhang and may keep some investors cautious. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Other reports said Microsoft may cut thousands of jobs and that investors are questioning whether its massive AI capital spending can generate enough returns. That uncertainty is weighing on the stock despite the company’s strong long-term fundamentals. Microsoft eyes another wave of layoffs that could hit 5,000 workers next week

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $390.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $406.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $417.86.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

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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