Moran Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Moran Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 91,657 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,342 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.0% of Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is pushing sales teams to sell its AI offerings as a more secure and lower-cost alternative to OpenAI and Anthropic, highlighting its ability to monetize enterprise demand and defend its AI ecosystem. Microsoft Coaches Sales Staff to Challenge OpenAI and Anthropic on Costs and Security
• Positive Sentiment: 3M announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft tied to Azure data centers and enterprise transformation, which adds another validation point for Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure strategy. 3M and Microsoft announce strategic partnership to advance AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is overhauling its cybersecurity business to capture more spending from AI-driven threats, which could open a new growth lane as customers increase security budgets. Microsoft (MSFT) Overhauls Cybersecurity Business to Cash In on AI Threats
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a $2.5 billion initiative to help large customers deploy AI systems around their own data and workflows, reinforcing its enterprise AI moat. How Microsoft (MSFT) Is Deepening Its Enterprise AI Moat With a $2.5 Billion Customer Deployment Initiative

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $557.96.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of MSFT opened at $395.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $401.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $412.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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).