Abel Hall LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Abel Hall LLC cut its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 25.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,847 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,291 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.2% of Abel Hall LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 642,285 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $239,495,000 after buying an additional 23,838 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 17.2% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 73,118 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,066,000 after acquiring an additional 10,750 shares in the last quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the first quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 69,792 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,835,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC now owns 52,321 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,368,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbia Bank boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Columbia Bank now owns 42,122 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,592,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. HSBC cut their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $557.96.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

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

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $393.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $400.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $411.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).