Trinity Street Asset Management LLP Buys 19,189 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Trinity Street Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 25.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 94,039 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,189 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.4% of Trinity Street Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Citizens Jmp began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Arete Research boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.84.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $385.10. 24,605,248 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,511,868. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $402.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $414.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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