Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lessened by Legacy Capital Group California Inc.

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,933 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,957 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.2% of Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The OpenAI lawsuit defeat for Elon Musk clears a major legal overhang and is seen as helping Microsoft’s AI ecosystem and partner exposure. Musk loses blockbuster OpenAI suit as jury says too late
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a new, large Microsoft stake, reinforcing the view that some major investors see MSFT as undervalued relative to its AI growth prospects. MSFT Stock Alert: What to Know as Bill Ackman Adds Microsoft Position
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators highlighted Microsoft as a beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption, with Azure and Copilot demand still driving the long-term growth story. Microsoft Rides on Enterprise AI Advancements: More Upside Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several fund updates showed mixed institutional activity, including notable purchases and trims, which points to continued debate over Microsoft’s near-term valuation rather than a clear change in fundamentals. Pershing Square boosts Microsoft stake with 5.65M shares
• Negative Sentiment: Some headlines flagged potential pressure points, including worries that GitHub AI competition is intensifying and that higher AI infrastructure spending could weigh on margins. Microsoft (MSFT) Faces GitHub AI Crisis as OpenAI’s Codex and Rivals Catch Up

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $423.54 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $398.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $439.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. 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 presently 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).