Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Lifted by Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO

Key Points

• Town & Country Bank & Trust increased its Microsoft stake by 16.5% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 33,728 shares valued at about $12.5 million. Microsoft is now the fund’s second-largest holding.
• Microsoft’s latest earnings beat Wall Street expectations, with EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.
• Despite generally positive analyst sentiment, some firms have cut price targets amid concerns about heavy AI spending, cloud-margin pressure, and valuation. Microsoft shares were trading down, and insider selling was also reported over the past 90 days.

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,728 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.2% of Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.86.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents 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 through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to secure new enterprise AI and cloud partnerships, including expanded collaborations around Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure, which support its long-term AI monetization story.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s 20-year power agreement tied to its Texas data-center buildout helps de-risk AI infrastructure expansion and supports cloud capacity growth.
• Positive Sentiment: ICON plc selected Microsoft as a preferred technology partner, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s AI and productivity tools in healthcare and enterprise workflows.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators remain split: some still view Microsoft as a high-quality AI platform with strong long-term upside, while others say the stock has been oversold and may be approaching a valuation reset.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft was also named in multiple new or ongoing lawsuits and class-action notices tied to alleged securities issues and copyright claims involving AI training data, adding headline risk but no immediate operating impact yet.
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel cut its price target on Microsoft and said Wall Street’s gross-margin expectations may be too high as Azure growth and AI capex pressure cloud profitability.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox price hikes and repeated gaming price increases suggest hardware cost inflation is squeezing a business line that had already been weakening.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern over heavy AI spending, shrinking free cash flow, and lower cloud-margin expectations is weighing on sentiment and helping explain why MSFT is falling.
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators said Microsoft Azure may face stricter “gatekeeper” rules under the Digital Markets Act, raising the possibility of more compliance burden and oversight in Europe.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s quantum-computing claims also came under renewed criticism, which adds to skepticism around some of its more speculative AI-related initiatives.

Microsoft Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of MSFT opened at $352.83 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $411.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $421.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

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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