Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by NBT Bank N A NY

NBT Bank N A NY cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 202,622 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,655 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.9% of NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $75,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In 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 company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $393.82 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $400.28 and a 200-day moving average of $411.30. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Key Microsoft News

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Argus cut their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 target price (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $557.96.

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).