Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Brown Shipley& Co Ltd

Key Points

• Brown Shipley & Co Ltd trimmed its Microsoft stake by 3.6% in Q4, selling 1,988 shares and leaving it with 52,903 shares worth about $25.59 million, which represents 13.7% of the firm's portfolio and its second-largest holding.
• Insider activity was mixed: Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares at $397.35 while EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares at $409.52, and insiders now own roughly 0.03% of MSFT.
• Microsoft recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue and is advancing its AI/security stack (integrating Anthropic’s Mythos), but faces headline risk from a potential $2.8 billion U.K. lawsuit; analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $576.66, and the company pays a $0.91 quarterly dividend (0.8% yield).

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,903 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,988 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 13.7% of Brown Shipley& Co Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BLVD Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant's stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft said it will embed Anthropic’s Claude Mythos into its secure development lifecycle (Project Glasswing) to find and mitigate vulnerabilities earlier — a move that strengthens Microsoft’s AI-security offering and underpins enterprise trust in Azure and dev tools. Microsoft to integrate Anthropic's Mythos into its security development program
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing remains strong: KeyBanc reiterated an Overweight rating (with a $600 target) and other firms continue to publish high price targets, supporting upside expectations into earnings. Is Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) a Top AI Play on Azure Growth and Memory Supply Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft cut Xbox Game Pass prices (and reshaped Call of Duty access) to win back gamers — a consumer-facing move that may boost subscription growth and engagement, and has been received positively by the market. Microsoft cuts Game Pass subscription prices after new Xbox CEO promises to 'recommit' to gamers
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary highlights Microsoft’s push to be the “agentic AI internet” backbone — messaging that fuels investor optimism around Azure and platform monetization. “We Do Not Have Conflicting Interests….” Microsoft Stock NASDAQ: MSFT Gains on New Plan to be the Agentic AI Internet’s Backbone
• Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn promoted longtime COO Daniel Shapero to CEO while Ryan Roslansky takes a broader Microsoft role — an orderly internal transition that reduces execution risk but is unlikely to move core financials in the near term. LinkedIn’s CEO is moving on; please hold your tearful video tributes
• Negative Sentiment: A U.K. tribunal ruled Microsoft must face a mass $2.8 billion lawsuit alleging overcharging on cloud licences — a large headline risk that could pressure sentiment and create legal/legal-cost uncertainty. Microsoft must face $2.8 billion UK lawsuit over cloud computing licences
• Negative Sentiment: Critical commentary (e.g., “Code Red” pieces) suggests some investors worry Microsoft is losing momentum in parts of the AI race — such narratives can amplify short-term selling pressure ahead of earnings. Microsoft’s Code Red Is Real: Can It Keep Up in the AI Race?

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $392.00 price target (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $576.66.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $432.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $392.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $452.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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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