Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA reduced its Microsoft stake by 2.6% in the first quarter, selling 26,742 shares and leaving it with 1,021,503 shares valued at about $378.1 million. Microsoft remains the firm’s largest holding, representing 6.4% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 beating estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion topping expectations. Revenue rose 18.3% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 16.76.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable Sept. 10, for an annualized yield of about 0.9%. Meanwhile, analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy despite some recent target-price cuts.

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,021,503 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 26,742 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.4% of Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $378,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $390.49 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $406.14 and a 200 day moving average of $417.46. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13.

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 (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors 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 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 on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 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 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.86.

Key Microsoft News

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 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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