Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,427 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,662 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.0% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 92,945 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $44,950,000 after buying an additional 2,288 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $27,185,000. CenterStar Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 121.9% in the fourth quarter. CenterStar Asset Management LLC now owns 1,740 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $842,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Pekao Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $7,855,000. Finally, Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Tranquilli Financial Advisor LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,657,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.69.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s CEO testified that the company supported OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure, reinforcing the importance of Microsoft’s AI investment and the potential upside from its partnership with OpenAI. Microsoft’s C.E.O. Intervened When OpenAI Fired Sam Altman, Musk’s Lawyer Claims
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports emphasized Microsoft’s growing AI thesis, with analysts pointing to strong cloud growth, improving AI monetization, and continued long-term upside from enterprise demand. Microsoft’s (MSFT) Q3 Revealed 3 Things that Matter for the AI Bull Case
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentary argued Microsoft still looks undervalued based on free-cash-flow projections, even after higher capital spending, which can support the stock among long-term investors. Microsoft Stock Still Looks Undervalued Based on FCF Projections, Despite Higher Capex
• Neutral Sentiment: Market coverage continues to frame Microsoft as a major AI and cloud winner, but several articles are opinion pieces or commentary rather than new fundamental developments. Microsoft Stock Analysis: My Final Verdict
• Negative Sentiment: There was also some negative noise around Microsoft’s African data center delays and questions about AI and software disruption, which could add caution around execution and future growth assumptions. Microsoft’s African data center falters on payment demands, Bloomberg News reports

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

Microsoft stock opened at $412.66 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $397.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $443.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

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).