Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Wilkins Investment Counsel cut its Microsoft stake by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,709 shares and leaving it with 15,642 shares worth about $7.57 million.
• Microsoft reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 versus $4.06 expected and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly optimistic: 39 analysts rate MSFT a Buy, and the consensus target price is $560.88, even as some firms have adjusted their price targets.

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,642 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,709 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.88.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $450.24 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $402.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $434.62.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other 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 transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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

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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