New Hampshire Trust Reduces Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

New Hampshire Trust lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 56,924 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,624 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.4% of New Hampshire Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.88.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.57 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $399.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $436.92. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid 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 payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Microsoft News Summary

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 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).