Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,382 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,061 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.8% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. New Street Research cut their price target on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. China Renaissance cut their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. President Capital raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $562.69.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $415.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $396.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $445.39. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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).