World Equity Group Inc. Sells 6,116 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

World Equity Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,223 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,116 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.9% of World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $369.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $404.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $464.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.97.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Exclusive power deal with Chevron and Engine No. 1 to supply a large West Texas gas?fired plant (roughly 2.5 GW, ~$7B project) should de?risk long?term energy supply for Microsoft’s planned AI data?center campus — easing a key bottleneck for capacity growth. Microsoft, Chevron and Engine No. 1 sign exclusive deal for power supply
• Positive Sentiment: Big Asia infrastructure commitments — Microsoft is on track to invest ~$5.5B in Singapore through 2029 and over $1B in Thailand — that expand Azure/AI capacity and reinforce long?term revenue visibility from cloud and enterprise AI. Microsoft on track to invest $5.5 billion in Singapore by 2029
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s massive fundraising round strengthens the ecosystem around Microsoft (strategic partner and investor), which could accelerate enterprise AI adoption that benefits Azure, Copilot and premium services. OpenAI Raises $122 Billion in Funding Round
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support has picked up: Benchmark initiated coverage with a Buy ($450 target) and other shops (including New Street) raised or reiterated bullish targets — these votes of confidence can draw dip buyers and support a technical rebound. Benchmark initiates Microsoft at Buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Small IP/branding acquisition: ActiveOps sold WorkiQ trademarks to Microsoft for $10M — bolsters workforce/observability tooling but is not material to macro outlook. ActiveOps Sells WorkiQ Trademarks to Microsoft
• Neutral Sentiment: Organizational reshuffle and repositioning of commercial/consumer AI units aim to improve execution on Copilot and enterprise AI sales — important operationally but recovery depends on measurable revenue/margin impact. Org chart shuffles draw attention
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/earnings worries: MSFT just posted its steepest quarterly price decline since 2008 and investors are questioning the ROI on heavy AI capex and the pace of Copilot adoption — that sentiment drove the recent selloff and sustained volatility. Microsoft closes worst quarter since 2008
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: U.K. competition authorities have opened a probe into Microsoft’s business?software licensing in the cloud, which could lead to remedies, higher compliance costs or product changes. UK to launch antitrust probe into Microsoft’s business software
• Negative Sentiment: Some large funds have trimmed positions and technicals show material damage (breaks below long?run moving averages), which raises the risk of further near?term downside until sentiment stabilizes. Opinions on breaching 200-week moving average

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).