Seizert Capital Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Seizert Capital Partners cut its Microsoft stake by 19.7% in Q4, selling 5,056 shares and ending with 20,667 shares worth about $9.995 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors holding 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock, even as some funds added to their positions while others trimmed them.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on MSFT: the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average target price of $560.88, despite several firms recently lowering their price targets.

Seizert Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,667 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,056 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 193,371 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $93,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 64,900 shares of the software giant's stock worth $31,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 4,751 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,298,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 16,229 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,849,000 after acquiring an additional 2,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WJ Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. WJ Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,256,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft to $502.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $450.24 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $402.09 and a 200-day moving average of $434.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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