Quent Capital LLC Has $20.86 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Quent Capital LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 2,477 more shares and bringing its total to 43,140 shares valued at about $20.86 million.
• Microsoft remains heavily owned by institutions, with hedge funds and other investors controlling 71.13% of the stock; recent analyst commentary is still broadly positive, with an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $560.88.
• The company continues to lean into AI-driven growth, including reported talks with Anthropic over Maia AI chips, a ChatGPT integration into PowerPoint, and a $1 billion partnership with EY to promote corporate AI adoption.

Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,140 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,477 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of Quent Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Quent Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson cut their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 price objective (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft's AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft's GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $418.57 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $399.38 and its 200 day moving average is $437.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was 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 directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

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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