Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Trust Investment Advisors’ 3rd Largest Position

Trust Investment Advisors trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,215 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,024 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.7% of Trust Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

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

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $385.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $402.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $414.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year 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 (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 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 was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.84.

About Microsoft

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).