Pictet North America Advisors SA Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Pictet North America Advisors SA trimmed its Microsoft stake by 2.7% in Q4, selling 2,320 shares and ending the period with 83,972 shares valued at about $40.45 million, making MSFT its 5th-largest holding (3.8% of assets).
• Microsoft posted a quarterly beat with $4.14 EPS vs. $3.86 expected and $81.27 billion in revenue (up 16.7% YoY), while the Street’s consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a $586.26 target.
• Insider activity was mixed: EVP Kathleen Hogan sold 12,321 shares at an average $409.52, while director John Stanton bought 5,000 shares at $397.35; institutional ownership stands around 71.1%.

Pictet North America Advisors SA trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,972 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,320 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.8% of Pictet North America Advisors SA's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Pictet North America Advisors SA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $40,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $384.37 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $355.67 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $391.33 and a 200-day moving average of $456.51.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 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, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, February 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $586.26.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy bullish options flow: traders bought roughly 811,669 MSFT call options Monday (about +31% vs. average), signaling short‑term investor conviction and speculative buying that can lift the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor/market commentary is bullish — some investors now say it’s time to pounce after the pullback, framing MSFT as a value play with long-term AI and Azure upside. Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Rebound Gains Steam
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing and buy‑the‑dip narratives: Bernstein and other bull cases argue AI capex fears are over‑priced and the pullback creates a margin of safety; several firms maintain bullish ratings and lofty price targets (median target still well above current levels). ‘This Looks Worse Than It Is,’ Says Bernstein
• Positive Sentiment: Positive fundamentals on AI monetization: coverage highlights Copilot, Azure growth and a sizable AI backlog as drivers of revenue and margins — supporting the bull narrative that near‑term noise may not derail long‑term cash flow. This Is How Microsoft Is Making Money from AI Right Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming catalyst: Microsoft reports earnings later this month (April 29) — results and Azure growth commentary could amplify moves in either direction, so many traders are positioning ahead of the print. Should You Buy Microsoft Stock Before April 29?
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector tailwind: tech stocks were broadly firmer late Monday, which often lifts large-cap names like MSFT alongside the group. Sector Update: Tech Stocks Gain Late Afternoon
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI partnership friction: a leaked internal memo and reporting that OpenAI sees Microsoft as limiting its enterprise reach — plus OpenAI’s pivot toward Amazon/AWS — raise strategic risk to MSFT’s exclusive‑access narrative and could pressure future AI revenue assumptions. OpenAI touts Amazon alliance in memo, says Microsoft has 'limited our ability'
• Negative Sentiment: Competition and product overlap: Anthropic and others are expanding into Office/enterprise integrations (e.g., Claude for Word), which could cap some of Microsoft’s Copilot upside and add competitive pressure. Anthropic Launches Claude for Word
• Negative Sentiment: AI capex and margin concerns: social and analyst discussion flag heavy AI infrastructure spending and a technical downtrend; if capex keeps compressing margins or Azure growth disappoints, downside could deepen before recovery. Microsoft Stock Opinions on AI Capex-Driven Drawdown

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).

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.