ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 3,813 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• ZWJ Investment Counsel cut its Microsoft stake by 1.9%, selling 3,813 shares and now holds 198,977 shares worth $96,229,000, about 3.5% of its portfolio and its fifth-largest holding.
• Microsoft reported a quarterly beat with $4.27 EPS vs. $4.06 expected and $82.89 billion revenue, up 18.3% year‑over‑year.
• Wall Street has a consensus "Moderate Buy" on MSFT with an average target of $556, and institutional investors own roughly 71.13% of the stock as several large funds recently adjusted positions.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 198,977 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,813 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.5% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $96,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,840,432,000 after acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies reaffirmed a buy rating on Microsoft, a vote of confidence from an active sell‑side firm that supports demand for the shares. Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT Receives Buy Rating from Jefferies Financial Group
• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital commented on Microsoft’s amended OpenAI deal — the note frames the partnership terms as a strategic positive for long‑term AI revenue and cloud demand, which could underpin MSFT’s growth outlook. Here’s What RBC Capital Thinks About Microsoft (MSFT) After Amended Deal With OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Product and execution wins: Microsoft moved Agent 365 out of preview and continues to expand AI agent and Copilot integrations across Microsoft 365 — these enterprise product rollouts help monetize AI inside existing commercial relationships. Microsoft takes Agent 365 out of preview as shadow AI becomes an enterprise threat
• Positive Sentiment: Bull perspective: several analysts and commentators argue MSFT is attractively valued given backlog and cloud visibility, describing the stock as a long‑term compounding opportunity despite near‑term headwinds. Microsoft: A Generational Compounding Opportunity At 21x P/E
• Neutral Sentiment: Price‑target action: China Renaissance trimmed its MSFT target to $550 from $630 but kept a buy rating — a modest downgrade in optics but still implies material upside from current levels. Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT Price Target Cut to $550.00 by Analysts at China Renaissance
• Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation risk: Altimeter sold Microsoft in favor of Nvidia and SK Hynix — portfolio managers are favoring AI compute/hardware exposure over software/cloud exposure, creating selling pressure for MSFT. Why Altimeter Sold Microsoft For Nvidia, SK Hynix: CEO Gerstner Warns Investors Must 'Make Choices' Between Software And AI Compute
• Negative Sentiment: Cost and margin worries: commentators note the market is currently pricing Microsoft for rising AI infrastructure costs rather than future AI revenue — heavy GPU/infra spend and guidance for lower cloud gross margins are pressuring sentiment. Microsoft: The Market Is Pricing AI Costs, Not AI Returns
• Negative Sentiment: High capex flagged by pundits and TV commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) remains a headline risk — investors are sensitive to the company’s multiyear GPU and data‑center spend and the timing of return on that investment. Jim Cramer Points to Elevated Capital Spending as a Concern for Microsoft Investors

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $505.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore cut their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $556.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $413.62 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.10. The business's fifty day moving average price is $395.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $447.45. 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 12 month low of $356.28 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. 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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