Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by LRI Investments LLC

LRI Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 53,966 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.8% of LRI Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Build announcements suggest it is broadening its AI platform with proprietary models and agentic tools, which could reduce reliance on OpenAI and improve margins over time.
• Positive Sentiment: New partnerships and integrations with Nvidia, healthcare groups like Mayo Clinic, and third-party enterprise tools expand Microsoft’s ecosystem and may support future cloud demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor commentary remains constructive, with several reports arguing that Microsoft’s AI opportunity and Azure growth still look underappreciated. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s quantum-computing update and AI infrastructure ambitions are long-term catalysts, but they are not expected to contribute meaningfully to near-term earnings. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors appear to be taking profits after the Build rally and remain cautious about Microsoft’s heavy AI spending and execution risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Judson Althoff’s disclosed share sale may add to short-term sentiment pressure, even though the transaction was relatively small compared with his remaining holdings. Article Title

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $427.34 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $405.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $432.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business 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 firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, May 4th. Forty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,083 shares of company stock valued at $12,710,152. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).