Tranquility Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,714 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,744 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.2% of Tranquility Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled new in-house AI models at Build, including MAI-Code-1 and MAI-Thinking-1, signaling it is reducing reliance on OpenAI and Anthropic while lowering costs for developers.
- Positive Sentiment: The company introduced Microsoft Scout, an always-on personal agent for Microsoft 365, and other agentic AI tools, reinforcing the view that Microsoft is expanding its AI monetization opportunities.
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia deepened their partnership on AI PCs and agentic computing across Windows and Azure, which investors viewed as a major catalyst for the Windows ecosystem and future hardware/software demand.
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also highlighted its quantum computing progress with the Majorana 2 chip, adding to the company’s long-term innovation narrative.
- Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts and media reports remained constructive, with commentary pointing to strong Azure upside, AI demand, and a favorable long-term valuation case for MSFT.
- Neutral Sentiment: Build 2026 generated broad attention across the market, but some reports noted Microsoft teased a Copilot “Super App” without fully unveiling it, which may have tempered expectations.
- Negative Sentiment: Judson Althoff sold 15,500 Microsoft shares in an SEC-disclosed transaction, which can create short-term investor concern even though the sale was relatively modest versus his remaining holdings.
- Negative Sentiment: Some coverage cited profit-taking and concerns about capital intensity, margin pressure, and a possible AI policy overhang, helping explain the pullback despite the positive product news.
Insider Activity
Microsoft Stock Down 4.2%
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $441.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $403.52 and its 200-day moving average is $433.78. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 21.67%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 target price (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Forty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given 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 $561.20.
Get Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
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).
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