Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Reduced by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 537,779 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 14,270 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.4% of Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $260,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. IRON Financial LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $493,860,000 after acquiring an additional 9,700 shares during the period. Finally, Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $450.24 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $402.09 and a 200 day moving average of $434.62. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Weiss Ratings downgraded Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.88.

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).