Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Arkos Global Advisors

Key Points

• Arkos Global Advisors cut its Microsoft position by 51% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,340 shares and leaving it with 3,210 shares valued at about $1.55 million.
• Microsoft’s institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 71.13% of the stock, and several firms either increased or initiated positions during the quarter.
• Analyst sentiment is still constructive: 41 analysts rate the stock a Buy, six rate it Hold, and the consensus target price is $561.20, even after some recent price-target cuts and a few downgrades.

Arkos Global Advisors lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 51.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,210 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,340 shares during the quarter. Arkos Global Advisors' holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. B&D White Capital Company LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 824.3% in the fourth quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC now owns 5,999 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,901,000 after purchasing an additional 5,350 shares during the period. Blue Jean Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $1,325,000. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 19,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,315,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 16,568 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,013,000 after purchasing an additional 5,561 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 14,771,001 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,143,564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Phillip Securities raised shares of Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Dbs Bank cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $561.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company'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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $390.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $411.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $428.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s broader AI and cloud story remains intact, with recent commentary highlighting strong Azure demand, continued Copilot momentum, and bullish analyst views that the stock is still attractive long term.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share reinforces Microsoft’s cash generation and shareholder-return profile.
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments about using AI more efficiently and Microsoft’s tighter controls on third-party AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude suggest a focus on governance and cost discipline rather than a direct business setback.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is weighing a spinoff or restructuring of Xbox, along with expected layoffs and budget cuts, are the biggest near-term headwind and are likely weighing on sentiment around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports of job cuts in Microsoft’s Azure unit in China and broader worries about AI infrastructure spending are adding caution about near-term execution and profitability.

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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