St. Clair Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• St. Clair Advisors LLC trimmed its Microsoft stake by 2.9% in the first quarter, selling 1,503 shares and leaving it with 50,344 shares worth about $18.6 million. Microsoft still remains one of the fund’s largest holdings at 5.0% of the portfolio.
• Microsoft continues to receive broadly positive analyst coverage, with 41 Buy ratings and 7 Hold ratings, and an average price target of $559.84, despite some firms recently cutting their targets. The consensus rating remains Moderate Buy.
• Recent company news shows a mix of strengths and risks: Microsoft beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, but insiders have also sold shares recently and the company faces headline risk from a securities fraud class action tied to AI/Copilot claims.

St. Clair Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,344 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,503 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.0% of St. Clair Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. St. Clair Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Dbs Bank lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $559.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

Microsoft stock opened at $385.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. 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 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $402.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $414.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The firm 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%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

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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