Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC

Key Points

• Ironwood Investment Counsel trimmed its Microsoft stake by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,174 shares. Microsoft remains its largest holding, making up about 5.6% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Microsoft’s latest earnings showed continued strength, with EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89 billion, both above analyst expectations. Revenue rose 18.3% year over year, and analysts still expect strong full-year earnings.
• Despite some recent stock weakness and mixed sentiment around AI partnerships, Wall Street remains broadly bullish on MSFT, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a price target of $561.20. Microsoft also reaffirmed shareholder returns with a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,523 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,174 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.6% of Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $40,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Build 2026 announcements and related coverage continued to reinforce the company’s AI growth story, including new in-house models, agent tools, Windows upgrades, and enterprise AI infrastructure that could deepen its competitive position. Analysts Say Buy Microsoft Stock (MSFT) after Build 2026 Reinforces AI Growth Story
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Microsoft’s AI revenue run rate crossing $37 billion, suggesting strong monetization from Azure, Copilot, and enterprise AI offerings. Microsoft's AI Revenue Run Rate Just Crossed $37 Billion. Is It the Best AI Stock to Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains supportive, with TD Cowen reiterating a buy rating and a $540 target, while other analysts and investors continue to frame Microsoft as a durable long-term AI and cloud leader. The Market Is Undervaluing Microsoft, Says Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s bullish comments comparing Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon to long-term compounding opportunities also added to the constructive investment narrative around MSFT. Billionaire Investor Bill Ackman: Buying Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon Today Could Be Like Adding Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway 25 Years Ago
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced Reid Hoffman will leave its board after nearly a decade; the move appears planned, though it removes a board member closely associated with the LinkedIn/OpenAI relationship. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman to step down from Microsoft's board
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also attracting attention for broader AI ecosystem developments, including fusion power support from Helion and network-security integration for AI agents, which are positive long-term but not immediate stock catalysts. Helion, the Sam Altman-backed fusion startup, raises $465M to build a power plant for Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Several pieces flagged technical weakness in Microsoft’s chart and said the stock’s recent rejection at resistance could weigh on the broader software trade. Microsoft Stock Charts Look Vulnerable. Software Stocks Could Follow.
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary around Satya Nadella rebuking an internal “make people addicted” AI memo and renewed concern over Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI may be creating some short-term reputational and partnership noise. Reid Hoffman to Leave Microsoft's Board of Directors

Microsoft Stock Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $416.67 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $407.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $432.07.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Raymond James Financial lowered Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on 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 Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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