Private Wealth Partners LLC Has $97.12 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Private Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its Microsoft stake by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, but still held 200,817 shares valued at about $97.1 million. Microsoft remained its third-largest position and made up 6.9% of the portfolio.
• Microsoft reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $4.27 beating estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion topping expectations as sales rose 18.3% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn 16.76 per share for the current fiscal year.
• The stock continues to draw support from Wall Street and income investors: analysts rate it Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $560.88, and Microsoft also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable June 11.

Private Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,817 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,282 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 6.9% of Private Wealth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Private Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $97,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,314,509 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,714,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, China Renaissance decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $409.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $397.84 and a 200-day moving average of $441.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $356.28 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is drawing bullish attention after news that its MDASH cybersecurity system outperformed Anthropic and OpenAI in a key test, reinforcing the company’s AI leadership and enterprise security story.
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and Phillip Securities both reiterated or upgraded Microsoft with bullish ratings, with fresh price targets suggesting meaningful upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced Carmine Di Sibio, former EY chairman and CEO, has joined its board of directors, which may be viewed as a governance and strategic-strengthening move.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is pursuing AI startup acquisitions beyond OpenAI suggest management is preparing new growth drivers and reducing reliance on a single AI partner.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Microsoft’s expanding AI revenue run rate and ongoing enterprise adoption, which continue to support the long-term growth narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces focused on Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship, including a possible revenue-sharing cap and testimony from Satya Nadella, but the market impact is still uncertain until more deal details become public.
• Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn’s planned 5% workforce reduction may help margins, but it also signals ongoing restructuring across Microsoft’s ecosystem rather than a clear near-term catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. competition regulator launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s business software dominance, raising the risk of future restrictions in Office, cloud, and AI-related distribution.
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage of browser-tab data collection in Microsoft Edge could add privacy concerns around Copilot and AI memory features, potentially increasing scrutiny of Microsoft’s consumer AI products.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing headlines about elevated AI spending, OpenAI-related trial testimony, and investor caution around capex may keep pressure on sentiment until Microsoft proves the returns on its AI investments.

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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