Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Trimmed by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 101,787 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,166 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.1% of Anchor Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Anchor Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.0% during the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 4,268 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in Microsoft by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 25,224 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,337,000 after purchasing an additional 3,411 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 251.8% in the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,979 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,247,000 after purchasing an additional 17,878 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 58,850 shares of the software giant's stock worth $21,785,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 123,856 shares of the software giant's stock worth $45,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined 25 tech companies in urging U.S. policymakers not to impose broad restrictions on open-weight and open-source AI models, a stance that supports its broader AI ecosystem strategy and could help preserve flexibility for future product development. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also backed a coalition letter with Nvidia, Meta, and other firms arguing that open-weight AI is important for U.S. leadership, reinforcing investor confidence that the company remains a major AI platform player rather than being boxed into one model provider. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanded Databricks partnership extends a key cloud/data-AI relationship through the 2030s, which should help Azure adoption and strengthen long-term enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud services. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews ahead of Microsoft’s July 29 earnings report say the big investor focus will be FY2027 CapEx guidance and Azure growth, with analysts expecting strong results but worrying that AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and margins. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued class-action alerts and deadline reminders tied to Microsoft securities-fraud claims, including allegations related to Copilot disclosures, which adds headline risk and may keep some investors cautious into earnings. GlobeNewswire article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness tied to AI spending fears also weighed on Microsoft, as investors sold mega-cap names after seeing massive capital outlays across the sector and questioning near-term returns on AI investment. Fox Business article

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $381.70 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average is $398.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $407.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during 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%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $646.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.40.

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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