Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 131,115 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 9,208 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $63,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,605 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,482,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Chris Bulman Inc now owns 2,700 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 104,969 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $50,765,000 after purchasing an additional 8,968 shares during the last quarter. Wincap Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Wincap Financial LLC now owns 6,753 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,266,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. grew its position in Microsoft by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 42,509 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Reworked OpenAI deal and new AI research direction could accelerate Microsoft’s roadmap and narrow model gaps with competitors, supporting long‑term revenue upside. Microsoft Is on a New AI Journey After Reworked OpenAI Deal
• Positive Sentiment: A leaked OpenAI cap table highlights a large paper gain on Microsoft’s investment (reported ~17x), underscoring potential balance‑sheet/earnings upside tied to OpenAI exposure. OpenAI Cap Table Leak Reveals Microsoft’s 17x Windfall While Sam Altman Holds Zero Equity
• Positive Sentiment: Product strategy: Microsoft is shifting Copilot toward a multi‑model, agentic approach — a move that could improve enterprise adoption and monetization if execution follows. Microsoft Is Going Multi-Model with Copilot. Does the Enterprise King Win Again?
• Neutral Sentiment: Channel ecosystem: Ingram Micro earning Microsoft’s “Frontier Distributor” status reinforces partner distribution for Copilot/AI solutions — supportive but indirect to near‑term revenue. Is Ingram Micro (INGM) Using Microsoft’s Frontier Status To Redefine Its AI Distribution Moat?
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry context: Pieces arguing for defensive/utility exposure and analysts calling Microsoft a value opportunity explain headline flows but are less likely to drive immediate price moves. Is This ETF the Safest Way to Benefit From AI?
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/security risk: Iran’s IRGC publicly threatened the $30B “Stargate” AI project backed by OpenAI, Microsoft and Nvidia — a direct risk to infrastructure, project timelines and investor sentiment. Iran’s IRGC Targets $30 Billion Stargate Project Backed by OpenAI, Microsoft, and Nvidia
• Negative Sentiment: Security concerns: A DeepMind paper maps how autonomous agents can be hijacked; tests show successful data exfiltration against Microsoft M365 Copilot — a potential liability for enterprise trust and adoption. Deepmind’s ‘AI Agent Traps’ Paper Maps How Hackers Could Weaponize AI Agents Against Users
• Negative Sentiment: Execution skepticism: Analysis of 84 earnings calls argues Satya Nadella’s AI rhetoric outpaces measurable financial results, feeding short‑term doubts about revenue conversion from AI hype. Microsoft’s 84 Earnings Calls Reveal AI Reality Check As Nadella’s Words Outpace Results

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, 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 bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was 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 owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. New Street Research increased their price target on Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $373.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $400.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $462.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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