RKL Wealth Management LLC Sells 3,075 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

RKL Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 49,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,075 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.6% of RKL Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. RKL Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lynch Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 24.5% during the first quarter. Lynch Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,425 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,412,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Merited Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the first quarter. Merited Wealth LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 41.2% during the first quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,622 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,782,000 after acquiring an additional 4,558 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,924 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,265,000 after acquiring an additional 4,242 shares during the period. Finally, Balentine LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 11,132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,121,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Argus lowered their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.84.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $385.10 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $402.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $414.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

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).