Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Decreases Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 618,447 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,001 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.1% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $295,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. BLVD Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. ARK & TLK Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake 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 period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, 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 owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $396.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $445.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. 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).