RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. cut its Microsoft stake by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,025 shares and leaving it with 28,050 shares worth about $13.6 million.
• Despite the trim by one fund, Microsoft remains heavily owned by institutions, with institutional investors holding 71.13% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Microsoft has 39 Buy ratings versus seven Hold ratings, with a consensus Moderate Buy and an average target price of $560.88.

RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,050 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,025 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.2% of RWQ Financial Management Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. President Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the 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 directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

Microsoft Stock Up 5.4%

MSFT stock opened at $450.24 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $402.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $434.62. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

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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