Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Trimmed by Fortress Financial Solutions LLC

Fortress Financial Solutions LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 49.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,441 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,423 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.9% of Fortress Financial Solutions LLC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Fortress Financial Solutions LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 24.4% in the first quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 51,692 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $19,135,000 after purchasing an additional 10,139 shares during the period. Canal Insurance CO boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.5% during the first quarter. Canal Insurance CO now owns 57,500 shares of the software giant's stock worth $21,285,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,052,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 7,691 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,847,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,452 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 728 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $390.54 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The business's fifty day moving average is $396.43 and its 200-day moving average is $405.74. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 21.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Argus lowered their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $646.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $554.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported fiscal Q4 revenue of approximately $90.0 billion, up 18% year over year and above the $87.6 billion consensus estimate. Adjusted earnings of $4.74 per share also exceeded expectations of $4.21, marking the company’s 14th consecutive “double beat.” Microsoft Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Azure revenue grew 43%, exceeding analysts’ expectations of roughly 40%, and the cloud platform surpassed $100 billion in annual revenue. The results eased concerns that Microsoft’s AI infrastructure investments may be outpacing customer demand. Microsoft Tops Quarterly Cloud Growth Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft said Microsoft 365 Copilot reached 30 million paid seats, providing evidence of growing monetization for its AI products. The company also recorded a $3.2 billion gain from its Anthropic investment, although returns from its OpenAI investment were more mixed. Azure Crosses $100 Billion in Annual Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft maintained its AI capital-expenditure outlook rather than following Alphabet’s recent increase. Investors viewed the spending discipline as supportive of margins and free cash flow, while first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $89.9 billion to $91.0 billion was slightly above consensus. Microsoft Keeps Capex Forecast Unchanged
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors had positioned for an unusually large post-earnings move, with options implying roughly a 6% to 7% swing. This elevated volatility reflects the importance of Microsoft’s results to the broader AI investment theme.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces a U.K. regulatory investigation into whether customers were misled about Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscription pricing. The probe creates potential reputational and compliance risks, though its near-term financial impact is unclear. UK Regulator Investigates Microsoft Over 365 Subscriptions
• Negative Sentiment: Disney’s decision to replace GitHub Copilot with OpenAI’s Codex highlights intensifying competition in AI coding tools. Multiple shareholder lawsuits concerning alleged Copilot and Azure disclosures also remain an overhang.

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).

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