SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC reduced its Microsoft stake by 27.8% in the first quarter, selling 8,138 shares and leaving it with 21,174 shares worth about $7.84 million. Microsoft remained the firm’s third-largest position.
• Microsoft continues to draw strong analyst support, with 41 analysts rating it a Buy and the consensus still at Moderate Buy. Several firms recently raised price targets, including Wells Fargo to $650 and Arete Research to $870.
• The company is leaning harder into AI growth, launching a $2.5 billion AI deployment business called Microsoft Frontier Company and continuing efforts to boost Azure and Copilot adoption. At the same time, the stock has faced pressure from weak recent performance and some legal and spending-related concerns.

SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 27.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,174 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,138 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.3% of SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They set a "market outperform" rating for the company. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.86.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a new AI deployment business, Microsoft Frontier Company, backed by $2.5 billion and staffed with about 6,000 engineers and industry experts to help enterprises select, implement, and improve AI tools. Investors are viewing this as a way to accelerate Azure and Copilot adoption while monetizing the enterprise AI buildout. Microsoft launches its own AI deployment company with $2.5 billion commitment
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Microsoft as a top AI and growth stock, while others said the market is rotating from semiconductors back toward software. That is helping sentiment around MSFT as investors look for higher-quality AI beneficiaries with recurring enterprise revenue. Microsoft launches firm to help companies adopt AI with $2.5 billion
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also reported to be overhauling Copilot to make its AI assistant more useful and easier to justify for customers. That could improve adoption, but it also underscores that AI products must now prove their value. Microsoft’s Copilot Reset Shows AI Tools Must Now Prove Their Worth
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a new undersea cable partnership with Lightstorm to expand India-Southeast Asia connectivity, plus a report that enterprise customers continue to adopt Microsoft’s AI and cloud services. These are strategically helpful, but not immediate catalysts. Microsoft partners with Singapore's Lightstorm to build India-Southeast Asia undersea cable
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment is still being held back by Microsoft’s weak recent stock performance, with articles noting its worst month in more than 25 years and renewed debate about whether the selloff is creating a buying opportunity. Microsoft Had Its Worst Month in More Than 25 Years. Should Investors Buy the Crash?
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing class-action securities litigation over alleged misrepresentations during the class period, which adds a legal overhang and may keep some investors cautious. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Other reports said Microsoft may cut thousands of jobs and that investors are questioning whether its massive AI capital spending can generate enough returns. That uncertainty is weighing on the stock despite the company’s strong long-term fundamentals. Microsoft eyes another wave of layoffs that could hit 5,000 workers next week

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $390.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $406.14 and a 200-day moving average of $417.86.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given 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 payout ratio is 21.67%.

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).

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