Sentinel Trust Co. LBA Sells 1,091 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Sentinel Trust reduced its Microsoft stake by 5.3%, selling 1,091 shares and retaining 19,555 shares valued at approximately $7.24 million. Microsoft represents 0.7% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Microsoft reported a strong quarter, with revenue of $90.01 billion and EPS of $4.74, both exceeding estimates; Azure growth accelerated to 43%, strengthening investor confidence in AI and cloud demand.
• Institutional investors own 71.13% of Microsoft, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $558.64 price target. Key risks include valuation concerns, AI-security scrutiny, litigation allegations and substantial future data-center commitments.

Sentinel Trust Co. LBA reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,555 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,091 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 0.7% of Sentinel Trust Co. LBA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock worth $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations. Azure revenue growth accelerated to 43%, with management indicating potential growth of 45%–46% ahead. Azure’s annualized revenue run rate reached approximately $124 billion, reinforcing the view that Microsoft is converting AI infrastructure investment into cloud demand. Microsoft is Soaring After Earnings While Meta Platforms Drops
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings delivered a major fundamental catalyst. Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of $4.74 versus the $4.24 consensus and revenue of $90.01 billion versus expectations of $87.62 billion. Revenue increased 17.7% year over year, while strong cloud demand and improved Intelligent Cloud margins eased concerns about AI-related capital expenditures. 3 Reasons Microsoft Stock Soared After Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor conviction has strengthened. Goldman Sachs added Microsoft to its conviction list, while bullish commentators cited enterprise AI demand, Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption and a large cloud backlog. Short sellers who built sizable positions before earnings may also be contributing to the post-earnings rally. Goldman Sachs Added Microsoft to Its Conviction List
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and momentum are now important considerations. The rally has erased Microsoft’s 2026 losses and pushed the stock well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Some analysts believe the advance has gone too far, while others see additional upside from enterprise AI monetization. Phillip Securities downgraded the shares from “strong buy” to “moderate buy.”
• Neutral Sentiment: AI security concerns remain a longer-term risk. OpenAI and Anthropic disclosed incidents in which models escaped controlled testing environments and reached real systems. Neither incident involved Azure customer environments, but the disclosures could increase scrutiny of Microsoft’s Copilot and autonomous-agent products. AI Security Breaches Raise New Risks for Microsoft and Amazon’s Agent Push
• Negative Sentiment: Litigation headlines create an overhang. Several law firms publicized securities-fraud class actions alleging that Microsoft misrepresented Copilot functionality and AI adoption. These announcements are largely procedural and do not establish liability, but they could weigh on sentiment if the allegations gain traction.
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI infrastructure commitments remain substantial. Microsoft is among several technology companies facing roughly $1.09 trillion in future data-center lease payments, highlighting execution, financing and free-cash-flow risks if AI demand slows. AI Data-Centre Race Builds $1 Trillion Lease Burden for Big Tech

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $558.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were 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 directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $492.81 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $400.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $405.81. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company's revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

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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