Schear Investment Advisers LLC Acquires 3,607 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Schear Investment Advisers LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 23% in the first quarter, buying 3,607 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 19,313 shares valued at about $7.15 million.
• Microsoft continues to attract strong institutional ownership and analyst support, with 71.13% of shares held by institutions and a consensus Wall Street rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $557.96.
• The company recently beat earnings and revenue expectations, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share payable on September 10, underscoring solid operational performance and shareholder returns.

Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 23.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,313 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 3,607 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.2% of Schear Investment Advisers LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Schear Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. 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 research report on Monday, May 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $557.96.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is still getting support from Wall Street, with some analysts and portfolio managers reiterating buy ratings and arguing that Azure demand, Copilot adoption, and Microsoft 365 tailwinds can support long-term earnings power. Article: Josh Baer Reiterates Buy on Microsoft, Citing AI Leadership, Azure/M365 Budget Tailwinds and Underappreciated Earnings Power
• Positive Sentiment: A CIO survey and other commentary pointed to strong Azure demand at multi-year highs, reinforcing the view that Microsoft’s cloud and AI platform remains a core beneficiary of enterprise spending. Article: Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Surges on Strong Azure Demand in Latest CIO Survey
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also announced a multi-year AI infrastructure partnership with 3M, which investors viewed as another sign that its Azure ecosystem is expanding into real-world enterprise use cases. Article: Microsoft Stock Rebounds on 3M Optical Infrastructure Alliance
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella criticized Anthropic’s Fable restrictions and pushed for Microsoft to promote its own AI models more aggressively, highlighting the company’s effort to reduce reliance on outside AI vendors. Article: Microsoft's Nadella rips Anthropic's Fable restrictions in staff meeting: 'Doesn't make sense'
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is training its sales force to push in-house AI models over OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic suggest a strategic shift toward better control over costs and monetization, but the market is still waiting for proof that this approach boosts returns. Article: Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down OpenAI and Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports said analysts trimmed price targets ahead of earnings, and commentary stressed that investors are increasingly worried Microsoft’s AI spending spree could pressure margins before the payoff becomes visible. Article: Why Microsoft Is Playing a Different AI Game Than Big Tech—and Cash Flow Is the Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing added overhang from securities class-action deadlines and allegations tied to Copilot and Azure disclosures, which can keep pressure on sentiment even though these developments are not operational. Article: MSFT UPCOMING DEADLINE : The Gross Law Firm Alerts Microsoft Corporation Stockholders of Securities Class Action

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

MSFT opened at $393.82 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $400.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.