Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC

Key Points

• St. Johns Investment Management increased its Microsoft stake by 11.1% in the first quarter, buying 2,041 additional shares and bringing its total to 20,396 shares worth about $7.55 million.
• Microsoft continues to draw strong institutional and analyst support, with institutions owning 71.13% of shares and analysts maintaining a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $557.96.
• Recent results showed Microsoft beat Wall Street expectations, posting $4.27 EPS on $82.89 billion in revenue, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,396 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,041 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.2% of St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. President Capital boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. HSBC reduced their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $525.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $557.96.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is still getting support from Wall Street, with some analysts and portfolio managers reiterating buy ratings and arguing that Azure demand, Copilot adoption, and Microsoft 365 tailwinds can support long-term earnings power. Article: Josh Baer Reiterates Buy on Microsoft, Citing AI Leadership, Azure/M365 Budget Tailwinds and Underappreciated Earnings Power
• Positive Sentiment: A CIO survey and other commentary pointed to strong Azure demand at multi-year highs, reinforcing the view that Microsoft’s cloud and AI platform remains a core beneficiary of enterprise spending. Article: Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Surges on Strong Azure Demand in Latest CIO Survey
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also announced a multi-year AI infrastructure partnership with 3M, which investors viewed as another sign that its Azure ecosystem is expanding into real-world enterprise use cases. Article: Microsoft Stock Rebounds on 3M Optical Infrastructure Alliance
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella criticized Anthropic’s Fable restrictions and pushed for Microsoft to promote its own AI models more aggressively, highlighting the company’s effort to reduce reliance on outside AI vendors. Article: Microsoft's Nadella rips Anthropic's Fable restrictions in staff meeting: 'Doesn't make sense'
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is training its sales force to push in-house AI models over OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic suggest a strategic shift toward better control over costs and monetization, but the market is still waiting for proof that this approach boosts returns. Article: Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down OpenAI and Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports said analysts trimmed price targets ahead of earnings, and commentary stressed that investors are increasingly worried Microsoft’s AI spending spree could pressure margins before the payoff becomes visible. Article: Why Microsoft Is Playing a Different AI Game Than Big Tech—and Cash Flow Is the Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing added overhang from securities class-action deadlines and allegations tied to Copilot and Azure disclosures, which can keep pressure on sentiment even though these developments are not operational. Article: MSFT UPCOMING DEADLINE : The Gross Law Firm Alerts Microsoft Corporation Stockholders of Securities Class Action

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $393.82 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $400.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Microsoft 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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