Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by KFA Private Wealth Group LLC

KFA Private Wealth Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,858 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,641 shares during the period. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,624,690,000 after acquiring an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Mizuho cut their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $502.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $384.28 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $407.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $418.67. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Haleon signed a new five-year collaboration with Microsoft to expand use of its AI, cloud, and data technologies, underscoring continued enterprise adoption of Microsoft’s AI stack. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: A Jefferies CIO survey showed Azure widening its lead over AWS among U.S. CIOs, supporting the case that Microsoft’s cloud momentum remains intact. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with JMP Securities reaffirming an Outperform view after Copilot Cowork’s launch and other coverage pointing to Microsoft’s AI growth potential. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is still drawing investor attention as a long-term AI winner, but several commentary pieces argue the stock is also under pressure from higher valuation scrutiny and broad Magnificent 7 weakness. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft may cut thousands of jobs, including in Xbox, sales, and consulting, are fueling concern that heavy AI spending is pressuring margins and forcing cost reductions. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor class-action notices tied to alleged Copilot/Azure misrepresentations are adding legal overhang and keeping sentiment cautious around MSFT. Article Title

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).