Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Kercheville Advisors LLC

Kercheville Advisors LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,216 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,710 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.2% of Kercheville Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Kercheville Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $419.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $399.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $437.61. 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 quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st 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 is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $615.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.88.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to help enterprises launch and scale AI projects, which could support future Azure usage and Copilot adoption. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Reports said Anthropic is in talks to rent servers powered by Microsoft’s Maia AI chips, a sign Microsoft’s in-house silicon strategy may be gaining traction with major AI customers. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft’s AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Microsoft’s AI opportunity, with commentary that AI compute demand is becoming a major growth engine for the company. Microsoft, Oracle Stand To Benefit As AI Compute Becomes The New Oil
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s largest data center in India is still on track to open by mid-2026, reinforcing the company’s ongoing global cloud expansion. Microsoft (MSFT)’s Largest Data Center In India Is On Track To Open By Mid-2026
• Negative Sentiment: Some market coverage focused on concerns that Microsoft’s aggressive AI capex could be weighing on sentiment, with investors questioning whether spending is outrunning near-term returns. Microsoft Falls 12% As AI Spending Concerns Pressure S&P 500
• Negative Sentiment: The UK CMA also opened a probe into Microsoft’s software practices, adding a regulatory overhang to the stock. UK CMA Opens Probe Into Microsoft (MSFT) Software Practices

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).