Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Cut by Horizon Investments LLC

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC cut its Microsoft stake by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 23,738 shares and ending with 412,801 shares valued at about $199.6 million.
• Microsoft’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $4.27 versus $4.06 expected and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, while analysts remain mostly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $560.88.

Horizon Investments LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 412,801 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 23,738 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.5% of Horizon Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $199,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 60,801 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,406,000 after purchasing an additional 8,495 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 167,483 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $80,999,000 after acquiring an additional 32,064 shares in the last quarter. Whelan Financial lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 11,377 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,502,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 514 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MN Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. MN Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,555 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,687,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $450.24 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50 day moving average is $402.09 and its 200 day moving average is $434.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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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