Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by New World Advisors LLC

Key Points

• New World Advisors LLC reduced its Microsoft stake by 23.8% in the first quarter, selling 3,279 shares and leaving it with 10,516 shares valued at about $3.89 million.
• Several analysts remain bullish on Microsoft, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a price target of $559.84, despite some recent target cuts.
• Insiders have also been selling shares recently, including EVP Takeshi Numoto and CEO Judson Althoff, even as Microsoft’s latest earnings beat expectations and revenue rose 18.3% year over year.

New World Advisors LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 23.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,516 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,279 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 0.7% of New World Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. New World Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. China Renaissance reduced their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $559.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to view Microsoft as a high-quality AI and cloud name, with some arguing the stock looks cheaper after the recent decline.
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming earnings later this month could provide a catalyst if Azure growth and AI-related demand remain strong.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft remains a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending, but investors are waiting for clearer proof that those investments will translate into faster profit growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s 4,800-job reduction and Xbox restructuring suggest ongoing cost pressure and restructuring challenges.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities class-action alerts tied to alleged AI/Copilot disclosure issues are adding legal and reputational risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership and AI product execution are creating uncertainty around the company’s AI narrative.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $384.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $401.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $412.68.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

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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