Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is James Investment Research Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

James Investment Research Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 71,568 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,686 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.8% of James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 187,650 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $90,751,000 after buying an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 24,468 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,677,000 after buying an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA now owns 20,646 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,985,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 71,225 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $34,446,000 after buying an additional 9,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 30,407 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,705,000 after buying an additional 1,172 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MSFT opened at $418.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap 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. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $399.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $437.48. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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 revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. 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 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft to $502.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.88.

Key Microsoft News

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?

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 shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).