Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Trimmed by Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 15.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 116,894 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 21,643 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.0% of Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $43,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.3% in the first quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 89,886 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $33,273,000 after purchasing an additional 6,880 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 11.1% during the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 20,396 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,550,000 after buying an additional 2,041 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 14.3% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 843,324 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $312,173,000 after buying an additional 105,471 shares in the last quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Microsoft by 31.7% during the first quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 114,356 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,331,000 after buying an additional 27,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cherokee Insurance Co boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the first quarter. Cherokee Insurance Co now owns 20,825 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,709,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $557.96.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of MSFT opened at $393.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $400.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $411.30. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is still getting support from Wall Street, with some analysts and portfolio managers reiterating buy ratings and arguing that Azure demand, Copilot adoption, and Microsoft 365 tailwinds can support long-term earnings power. Article: Josh Baer Reiterates Buy on Microsoft, Citing AI Leadership, Azure/M365 Budget Tailwinds and Underappreciated Earnings Power
• Positive Sentiment: A CIO survey and other commentary pointed to strong Azure demand at multi-year highs, reinforcing the view that Microsoft’s cloud and AI platform remains a core beneficiary of enterprise spending. Article: Microsoft (MSFT) Stock Surges on Strong Azure Demand in Latest CIO Survey
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also announced a multi-year AI infrastructure partnership with 3M, which investors viewed as another sign that its Azure ecosystem is expanding into real-world enterprise use cases. Article: Microsoft Stock Rebounds on 3M Optical Infrastructure Alliance
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella criticized Anthropic’s Fable restrictions and pushed for Microsoft to promote its own AI models more aggressively, highlighting the company’s effort to reduce reliance on outside AI vendors. Article: Microsoft’s Nadella rips Anthropic’s Fable restrictions in staff meeting: ‘Doesn’t make sense’
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is training its sales force to push in-house AI models over OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic suggest a strategic shift toward better control over costs and monetization, but the market is still waiting for proof that this approach boosts returns. Article: Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down OpenAI and Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports said analysts trimmed price targets ahead of earnings, and commentary stressed that investors are increasingly worried Microsoft’s AI spending spree could pressure margins before the payoff becomes visible. Article: Why Microsoft Is Playing a Different AI Game Than Big Tech—and Cash Flow Is the Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing added overhang from securities class-action deadlines and allegations tied to Copilot and Azure disclosures, which can keep pressure on sentiment even though these developments are not operational. Article: MSFT UPCOMING DEADLINE : The Gross Law Firm Alerts Microsoft Corporation Stockholders of Securities Class Action

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).