Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Lowered by Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI

Key Points

• Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI trimmed its Microsoft stake by 1.0% in Q1, ending with 148,848 shares valued at about $55.1 million. Microsoft remains its fifth-largest holding, making up roughly 4.9% of the portfolio.
• Microsoft’s recent news flow is mixed but AI-focused. The company expanded its partnership with AMD for Azure AI infrastructure and heads into fiscal Q4 earnings on July 29, with investors watching Azure growth, AI spending, and Copilot adoption. However, a new securities-fraud lawsuit tied to AI/Copilot disclosures could weigh on sentiment.
• The stock has held up on strong fundamentals and analyst support. Microsoft beat its last quarterly earnings estimates, reported 18.3% revenue growth, and pays a $0.91 quarterly dividend. Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $557.46.

Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 148,848 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,439 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.9% of Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI's holdings in Microsoft were worth $55,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock worth $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced an expanded strategic partnership with AMD to deploy Helios systems across Azure, reinforcing its AI infrastructure buildout and giving the stock a near-term boost. Microsoft expands AMD partnership with Helios AI infrastructure deployment on Azure
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators are framing Microsoft as attractively valued ahead of earnings, with some highlighting upside from Azure growth, AI execution, and Copilot adoption if management delivers strong commentary. Microsoft Stock Price Offers ‘Attractive Entry Point,’ Says Deutsche Bank Ahead of Q2 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is approaching fiscal Q4 earnings on July 29, and investors are watching for updates on Azure growth, AI spending, and whether Copilot is gaining traction. Microsoft earnings to spotlight Azure growth, AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment is also being weighed down by a new securities-fraud lawsuit tied to prior AI/Copilot disclosures, which could add legal and reputational overhang ahead of earnings. MSFT Investors Have Opportunity to Lead Microsoft Corporation Securities Fraud Lawsuit

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% 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 Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $402.29 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $400.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $410.17. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 21.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $557.46.

Microsoft Company 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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