Uptick Partners LLC Boosts Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Uptick Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,995 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.6% of Uptick Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Uptick Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $426.99 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $400.93 and a 200 day moving average of $434.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 during 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%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expected to showcase new homegrown AI models at Build, including a coding model that could improve GitHub Copilot and support future developer adoption. Microsoft to release new coding model next week, the Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary is turning more bullish on Microsoft’s AI revenue potential, with Morgan Stanley and HSBC both suggesting the market may be underestimating future upside from Azure, Copilot, and the Anthropic relationship. Is Wall Street underestimating MSFT AI revenue potential? Morgan Stanley weighs in
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also benefited from a broad tech rally, with AI and software stocks leading the market higher late in the session. Sector Update: Tech Stocks Rise Late Afternoon
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft secured a five-year $9.69 billion Pentagon software deal that consolidates government licensing and reinforces its entrenched enterprise and public-sector position. Pentagon awards Microsoft $9.7 billion deal in bid to cut costs, end license sprawl
• Neutral Sentiment: Some articles also note Microsoft’s heavy AI spending and the risk of capital misallocation across the sector, which could keep valuation debates active even as the stock trends higher. Peter Schiff: The $1 Trillion AI CapEx Bubble Is Hiding a Massive Capital Misallocation

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. New Street Research cut their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore cut their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities raised Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.88.

Microsoft Company 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).