Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Cut by Montag A & Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Montag A & Associates Inc. trimmed its Microsoft stake by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,760 shares and leaving it with 138,575 shares valued at about $67.0 million.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 beating estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion topping forecasts, while revenue rose 18.3% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, and analysts remain broadly bullish with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $560.88.

Montag A & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,575 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,760 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.1% of Montag A & Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Montag A & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $67,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WJ Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. WJ Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 11,074 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,356,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Core Alternative Capital boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 44,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $21,672,000 after purchasing an additional 2,580 shares during the last quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 12,869 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,643 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,598,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $450.24 on Monday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $402.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $434.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft 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 owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key 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 recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, New Street Research dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Microsoft 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.