Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Decreased by Trust Investment Advisors

Trust Investment Advisors cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,215 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,024 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.7% of Trust Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Lynch Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Lynch Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,425 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,412,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Merited Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Merited Wealth LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 41.2% during the first quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,622 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,782,000 after buying an additional 4,558 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 33.4% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,924 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,265,000 after buying an additional 4,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 11,132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,121,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% 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 valued at $10,508,361 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. China Renaissance reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.84.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $385.10 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $402.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $414.08.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

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).