Arax Advisory Partners Has $43.30 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Arax Advisory Partners reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,538 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 95,641 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of Arax Advisory Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Arax Advisory Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $43,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. PMG Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,347,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $493,860,000 after buying an additional 9,700 shares in the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2,332.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,262,509,000 after purchasing an additional 6,468,645 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s broader AI and cloud story remains intact, with recent commentary highlighting strong Azure demand, continued Copilot momentum, and bullish analyst views that the stock is still attractive long term.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share reinforces Microsoft’s cash generation and shareholder-return profile.
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments about using AI more efficiently and Microsoft’s tighter controls on third-party AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude suggest a focus on governance and cost discipline rather than a direct business setback.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is weighing a spinoff or restructuring of Xbox, along with expected layoffs and budget cuts, are the biggest near-term headwind and are likely weighing on sentiment around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports of job cuts in Microsoft’s Azure unit in China and broader worries about AI infrastructure spending are adding caution about near-term execution and profitability.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.20.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $390.74 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 12 month low of $356.28 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $411.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $428.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).