Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,783,696 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,428,432 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.3% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,215,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $50,664,631,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 500.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake in Microsoft by 908.5% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 23,568,250 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,398,077,000 after buying an additional 21,231,333 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly building a more than $1 billion annual AI and cloud business with ByteDance in China, underscoring strong demand for its Azure and OpenAI-related services. Microsoft Scores Massive China AI Win as TikTok Parent Eyes $1 Billion Spend
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s push to monetize ChatGPT with ads highlights continued AI commercialization, which may support sentiment around Microsoft’s OpenAI stake and AI strategy. OpenAI Brings ChatGPT Ads to Japan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is said to be moving Copilot to usage-based pricing and exploring cheaper AI models, a sign it is trying to improve margins as AI infrastructure costs rise. Microsoft (MSFT) Moves Copilot To Usage Based Pricing As AI Costs Rise
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say investors are increasingly worried about Microsoft’s AI valuation, spending, and monetization, which is weighing on the stock. Microsoft Faces AI Expectations Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing securities class-action lawsuits and investigations over alleged misleading AI-related statements, adding legal uncertainty. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential $3 billion Oracle cloud deal suggest possible friction in securing additional cloud capacity. Why Microsoft Stock Slumped Today

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $379.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $412.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.90. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction 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 approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. HSBC reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.20.

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).