Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Boosted by Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,422 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,576 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.3% of Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake 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 valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $411.74 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $408.54 and its 200 day moving average is $430.96. 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 company has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Evercore cut their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $561.20.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled its Majorana 2 quantum processor, reinforcing its long-term innovation pipeline and boosting optimism around its advanced computing ambitions. Microsoft Announces Majorana 2 Quantum Chip as Wedbush Calls It Another ‘Validation’ for the Industry
• Positive Sentiment: NHS England is rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot to more than 500,000 staff, a large enterprise win that highlights demand for Microsoft’s AI tools and could expand recurring software revenue. NHS England accelerates AI adoption with Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve service delivery, reduce costs and create more time for care
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to argue that Microsoft’s AI strategy and ecosystem strength support long-term upside, which may help limit downside on weakness. Microsoft’s AI Independence and Ecosystem Momentum Underpin Buy Rating; $620 Price Target Reaffirmed
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from investors and media continues to frame Microsoft as a strong AI and hyperscaler leader, but also notes ongoing debate about valuation and how much AI momentum is already priced in. Dryden Pence on GOOGL “Dominant” AI Position, META “Behind,” MSFT Still Strong
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is investigating a hack of its open-source GitHub projects that injected password-stealing malware, which is a reputational and security concern for the company’s developer ecosystem. Microsoft’s open source tools were hacked to steal passwords of AI developers
• Negative Sentiment: Reid Hoffman is leaving Microsoft’s board, and David Tepper reportedly cut most of Appaloosa’s Microsoft stake, adding to investor scrutiny around sentiment and governance. Reid Hoffman Exits Microsoft Board A Decade After LinkedIn Sale — Stock Has Soared 570%

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).