Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lowered by Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Beaumont Financial Advisors cut its Microsoft stake by 11.4% in Q4, selling 13,906 shares and leaving 108,352 shares worth $52.4 million, with Microsoft representing about 3.5% of the firm's holdings (its 4th largest position).
• Insider activity was notable: EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares at an average $409.52 (≈$5.05M), reducing her ownership by 8.2%, while Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares at $397.35, increasing his stake by 6.34%.
• Microsoft beat estimates in its most recent quarter (EPS $4.14 vs. $3.86 consensus; revenue $81.27B, +16.7% YoY), announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 (0.9% yield), and carries a consensus analyst price target of about $580.87 with a "Moderate Buy" rating.

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,352 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 13,906 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.5% of Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $52,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $393.04 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $390.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $455.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $355.67 and a one year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $580.87.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein’s Mark Moerdler says MSFT may be “bottoming” and is a good entry as AI/capex investments should start to pay off; that bullish analyst framing is supporting investor confidence. Why one analyst believes Microsoft's stock may be bottoming out
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft confirmed a $10 billion AI infrastructure expansion in Japan — a large, explicit capex commitment that underpins future Azure capacity and revenue potential in Asia. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Affirms $10B AI Infrastructure Expansion in Japan
• Positive Sentiment: MSFT will rent 30,000 Nvidia chips from Nscale (Norway) — an operational step to increase AI compute capacity quickly without owning all hardware, easing near-term deployment bottlenecks. Microsoft will rent 30,000 Nvidia chips from Nscale in Norway deal; expands Wyoming ops
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is buying 3,200 acres in Wyoming for a new data‑center campus — another concrete sign it’s expanding physical cloud capacity to capture backlog demand for Azure/AI services. Microsoft’s (MSFT) Data Center Push Continues with New 3,200 Acre Wyoming Campus
• Neutral Sentiment: Flow of bullish media/analyst coverage and heavy call‑option activity suggest short-term momentum (investors positioning for a rebound), but these are sentiment signals rather than fundamental proofs. Microsoft (MSFT) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Competition/partnership risk: Anthropic is targeting Microsoft’s most popular app, and OpenAI’s internal pressure to expand beyond Microsoft (including ties to Amazon) raises the prospect of reduced exclusivity and slower AI revenue leverage. These rival moves create execution and moat risk. Anthropic quietly targets Microsoft’s most popular app
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/pricing pressure: Several firms have trimmed price targets (and some memos allege OpenAI constraints tied to Microsoft), keeping a cloud of uncertainty around valuation despite strong revenue growth. That keeps downside risk if capex squeezes margins longer than expected. Mizuho Trims Microsoft Price Target to $515: How Much Upside Is Left in This AI Titan?

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.