Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Lessened by Courier Capital LLC

Key Points

• Courier Capital LLC cut its Microsoft stake by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,772 shares and leaving it with 78,068 shares worth about $37.8 million.
• Microsoft continues to attract strong institutional support overall, with hedge funds and other investors owning about 71.13% of the stock despite some recent portfolio shifts and insider sales.
• The company’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89 billion, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $560.88.

Courier Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,068 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,772 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.1% of Courier Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Courier Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft's AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft's GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50-day moving average is $399.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $437.48. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Thirty-nine equities research 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 company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

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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