Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Lockerman Financial Group Inc.

Lockerman Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 69.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,410 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,234 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.3% of Lockerman Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Lockerman Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $392.00 target price (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wedbush cut their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. HSBC cut their target price on Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Microsoft from $610.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.58.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft brought its Fairwater AI data center online ahead of schedule, a flagship facility Nadella called “the world’s most powerful” — supports MSFT’s edge in AI infrastructure and capacity expansion. Satya Nadella Praises ‘World’s Most Powerful’ AI Datacenter Going Live Early
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is partnering with Accenture on an “agentic factory” AI system and appears to be deepening enterprise AI partnerships — this should drive cloud/AI services demand and long-term ARR expansion. Accenture’s New Agentic Factory System Debuts With Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Adobe expanded its AI ecosystem and signed integrations with Microsoft, Anthropic, OpenAI and Nvidia — a vote of confidence in MSFT’s platform relevance and partner momentum. Adobe (ADBE) Inks Partnership with Microsoft (MSFT), Anthropic, OpenAI, and Nvidia (NVDA)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and investors are focused on Microsoft’s April 29 fiscal Q3 report; Evercore reiterates Buy and frames the quarter as “survive and advance,” so near-term volatility may hinge on guidance. Here’s What Evercore Expects from Microsoft’s Q3 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector theme: massive corporate capex into AI data centers is boosting infrastructure spending but not hiring — positive for hyperscalers’ capex-driven revenue opportunities, though it raises scrutiny on margin mix. AI data center spending is booming. Jobs aren’t. Here’s why
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary highlights both downside pressure (YTD drawdown) and contrarian buy cases; Zacks and other outlets flag MSFT as a hyperscaler to watch for AI-quantum upside. Top 2 AI-Quantum Hyperscalers to Watch in April With 20%+ Price Upside
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s stock has underperformed the broader market today and this week as investors price in increased competition from new AI tools (e.g., Anthropic/Claude variants, xAI Grok plugins) that could pressure software volumes or product mix. Here’s Why Microsoft (MSFT) Fell More Than Broader Market
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target cuts and caution: TD Cowen and others have trimmed targets, and Bank of America reset forecasts ahead of earnings — sentiment and lower targets add near-term selling pressure. Bank of America resets Microsoft stock forecast ahead of earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/sovereign risk: reports that Switzerland is reconsidering reliance on Microsoft raised headlines about potential contract/market risks in Europe. “Reduce Its Dependency on Microsoft”: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slips as Switzerland Reconsiders
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about AI disruption to legacy products persists — several outlets debate whether new agentic AI offerings will cannibalize Microsoft’s traditional software revenue. Should You Sell Microsoft (MSFT) on AI Disruption Fears?

Microsoft Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.07 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $355.67 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $391.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $452.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

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).