Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Raised by Louisbourg Investments Inc.

Key Points

• Louisbourg Investments Inc. increased its Microsoft stake by 28.8% in Q1, buying 9,573 additional shares and bringing its position to 42,820 shares worth about $15.85 million.
• Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst attention, with DA Davidson reiterating a Buy rating and a $550 price target, while broader coverage points to strong Azure cloud growth and expanding AI opportunities.
• The company also faces some headwinds: Microsoft announced about 4,800 global job cuts and is dealing with a securities fraud class action tied to Copilot and Azure disclosure concerns.

Louisbourg Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 28.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,820 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 9,573 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.8% of Louisbourg Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Louisbourg Investments Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the third quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Pollock Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 21 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: DA Davidson reiterated a Buy rating and a $550 price target on Microsoft, suggesting meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga article
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports said Azure cloud growth remains strong and Microsoft’s AI business is still expanding, with analysts highlighting cloud share gains and AI monetization as key drivers for a future rebound. Blockonomi article
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish pieces argued Microsoft may be one of the most mispriced AI stocks, pointing to its large OpenAI stake, strong enterprise demand, and the potential for Copilot and “orchestration” tools to become more lucrative over time. Barron's article
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention for a new AI-focused business unit and for merging its consumer and enterprise Copilot apps, which could improve product clarity but is still in the execution phase. Motley Fool article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft said it is cutting about 4,800 jobs globally, with roughly 3,200 roles hit in Xbox, signaling a broad restructuring and raising concerns about weaker gaming economics. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also reacting to a securities fraud class action tied to alleged Copilot and Azure disclosure issues, adding legal overhang after prior stock weakness. PR Newswire article

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm'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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. President Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.75.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of MSFT traded up $5.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $392.17. 4,549,209 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 37,726,043. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $406.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $417.46.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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).

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.