Belpointe Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,359 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,370 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.5% of Belpointe Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Belpointe Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $41,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $407.77 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $397.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $443.14. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continued to argue that Microsoft remains a long-term AI winner, with several notes saying the stock still looks undervalued and that its AI/Cloud thesis remains intact. Microsoft’s (MSFT) Q3 Revealed 3 Things that Matter for the AI Bull Case
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s testimony in the Musk v. Altman trial reinforced Microsoft’s early backing of OpenAI and its expected payoff from that investment, which some investors view as supportive of the company’s AI strategy. OpenAI to cap Microsoft revenue-sharing at $38 billion, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI reportedly capped revenue-sharing payments to Microsoft at $38 billion through 2030, which may be read as a structural clarification that still preserves a major economic relationship while supporting OpenAI’s IPO path. Microsoft secures structural wins in OpenAI revenue cap deal, Wedbush says
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft was mentioned in broader AI-market commentary about whether AI spending is generating enough ROI, which adds to sentiment volatility but does not directly change fundamentals. Chamath Warns Companies Must Prove ROI from AI Within ‘500 Days’
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports focused on Microsoft’s role in OpenAI’s founding and governance in the Musk lawsuit; these headlines keep the stock in the news, but the market impact is mostly indirect unless they lead to regulatory or contractual changes. How Much Power Did Microsoft Have Over OpenAI?
• Negative Sentiment: The biggest near-term overhang is the perception that Microsoft may have less upside from OpenAI than previously assumed, after reports that revenue-sharing is capped far below earlier projections. OpenAI to cap Microsoft revenue-sharing at $38 billion, The Information reports
• Negative Sentiment: Nadella’s testimony in the Musk trial also highlighted how closely Microsoft is tied to OpenAI’s governance fight, keeping legal and reputational risks in focus for investors. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella takes stand in Musk v. Altman trial

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.69.

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).