Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 4,061 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Wright Investors Service Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,382 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,061 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.8% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,732,578 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,805,149,000 after purchasing an additional 341,921 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 17,124 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $8,282,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,836 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,273 shares during the period. Slow Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 16,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,932,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Thomasville National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 178,293 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $86,226,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Raymond James Financial lowered Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. HSBC decreased their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $562.69.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $396.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $445.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast 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, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

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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