Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 37.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,881 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,636 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.2% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BLVD Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,641,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,371,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the third quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Melius Research set a $430.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Monday, February 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Microsoft to $502.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.69.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s CEO testified that the company supported OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure, reinforcing the importance of Microsoft’s AI investment and the potential upside from its partnership with OpenAI. Microsoft’s C.E.O. Intervened When OpenAI Fired Sam Altman, Musk’s Lawyer Claims
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports emphasized Microsoft’s growing AI thesis, with analysts pointing to strong cloud growth, improving AI monetization, and continued long-term upside from enterprise demand. Microsoft’s (MSFT) Q3 Revealed 3 Things that Matter for the AI Bull Case
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary argued Microsoft still looks undervalued based on free-cash-flow projections, even after higher capital spending, which can support the stock among long-term investors. Microsoft Stock Still Looks Undervalued Based on FCF Projections, Despite Higher Capex
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage continues to frame Microsoft as a major AI and cloud winner, but several articles are opinion pieces or commentary rather than new fundamental developments. Microsoft Stock Analysis: My Final Verdict
• Negative Sentiment: There was also some negative noise around Microsoft’s African data center delays and questions about AI and software disruption, which could add caution around execution and future growth assumptions. Microsoft’s African data center falters on payment demands, Bloomberg News reports

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $412.66 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $397.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $443.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).