Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 348,349 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,126 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.5% of Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $128,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the first quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 24,452 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,052,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 42,792 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Axis Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Axis Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Royal Harbor Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Harbor Partners LLC now owns 14,631 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,416,000 after buying an additional 2,533 shares during the period. Finally, Stevens Capital Partners lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% during the first quarter. Stevens Capital Partners now owns 5,504 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were 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. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $384.93 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $401.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $412.68. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.84.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to view Microsoft as a high-quality AI and cloud name, with some arguing the stock looks cheaper after the recent decline.
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming earnings later this month could provide a catalyst if Azure growth and AI-related demand remain strong.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft remains a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending, but investors are waiting for clearer proof that those investments will translate into faster profit growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s 4,800-job reduction and Xbox restructuring suggest ongoing cost pressure and restructuring challenges.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities class-action alerts tied to alleged AI/Copilot disclosure issues are adding legal and reputational risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership and AI product execution are creating uncertainty around the company’s AI narrative.

Microsoft Company 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).