Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Trimmed by Lincluden Management Ltd.

Lincluden Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,997 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,697 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.9% of Lincluden Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Lincluden Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th 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 period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen upgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $416.03 on Wednesday. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $400.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $435.60. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $356.28 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

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. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas sees significant upside potential for Microsoft, citing strong AI demand, more than 25 million expected paid Copilot seats, and Azure growth that could stay above 40%. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square has taken a large Microsoft position, which some investors view as a vote of confidence in the long-term AI thesis. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to argue Microsoft remains a strong long-term AI beneficiary, with some saying recent weakness may be creating an attractive entry point. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings beat was solid, but the stock has remained weak since the post-earnings sell-off, suggesting investors are focused more on forward guidance and AI spending than last quarter’s results. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also benefiting from broader AI ecosystem news, including new products and governance tools built around Microsoft Foundry, which supports the company’s enterprise AI platform narrative. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several pieces question whether Microsoft’s AI infrastructure spending is becoming too costly, with criticism centered on “compute” expenses and possible margin pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft was also the subject of a bearish Seeking Alpha note warning that its planned AI infrastructure spending could weigh on returns and valuation. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some headlines highlight that major holders such as the Gates Foundation have exited Microsoft, adding to investor concern about shifting sentiment among large shareholders. Article Title

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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