Quent Capital LLC Acquires 2,477 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,140 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,477 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.5% of Quent Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 610,229 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $295,119,000 after acquiring an additional 16,235 shares in the last quarter. Hegarty Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $819,000. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 43,445 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,570 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. President Capital boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.88.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft’s AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft’s GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.57 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $399.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $437.48. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).