Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Copeland Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Copeland Capital Management trimmed its Microsoft stake by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,124 shares and leaving it with 50,299 shares valued at about $24.3 million.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 topping estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion beating expectations, as revenue rose 18.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, while analysts remain broadly bullish, with 39 Buy ratings and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

Copeland Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,299 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,124 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. TKG Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Davis Rea LTD. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Davis Rea LTD. now owns 44,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $21,421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,892 shares in the last quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 10,034 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares during the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,194 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,447,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Field & Main Bank raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 54,196 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $26,210,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $421.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $398.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $438.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. New Street Research decreased their price target on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush said Microsoft’s restructured OpenAI partnership looks like a net positive rather than a setback, reinforcing the view that MSFT remains a key beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption. Wedbush Views Microsoft (MSFT)’s Restructured OpenAI Partnership As Net Positive Rather Than Strategic Failure
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is still being framed as a leading AI and cloud winner, with commentary highlighting Azure growth, Copilot demand, and broader enterprise AI spending as long-term drivers. Wedbush Views Microsoft (MSFT)’s Restructured OpenAI Partnership As Net Positive Rather Than Strategic Failure
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is also attracting investor attention as a preferred AI holding, with one high-profile investor reportedly rotating out of Alphabet and into MSFT, which can be seen as a vote of confidence in the stock’s AI positioning. This Famous Investor Just Sold All Of His Alphabet Stock and Loaded Up On Microsoft Stock. Should You?
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a large purchase of 650,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits, suggesting continued investment in sustainability initiatives that may support its long-term corporate image and compliance goals. Microsoft's carbon removal plans aren't dead after all
• Neutral Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests Microsoft may be undervalued after a recent pullback, but that view is still debated and depends on whether AI spending translates into sustained earnings growth. Why Bill Ackman Thinks the Selloff in Microsoft Stock Is Misguided
• Negative Sentiment: The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened a probe into Microsoft’s software practices, creating a regulatory overhang that could pressure sentiment if scrutiny expands. UK CMA Opens Probe Into Microsoft (MSFT) Software Practices
• Negative Sentiment: GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft, confirmed a security incident involving stolen internal repositories, adding a cybersecurity headline that could weigh on the stock near term. GitHub confirms 3,800 internal repos stolen through poisoned VS Code extension as supply chain worm hits Microsoft's Python SDK

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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