Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Cardano Risk Management B.V.

Cardano Risk Management B.V. reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 89.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,424,306 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 21,143,944 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 8.8% of Cardano Risk Management B.V.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Cardano Risk Management B.V.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $897,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $575.00 to $505.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.86.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Haleon signed a new five-year collaboration with Microsoft to expand use of its AI, cloud, and data technologies, underscoring continued enterprise adoption of Microsoft’s AI stack. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: A Jefferies CIO survey showed Azure widening its lead over AWS among U.S. CIOs, supporting the case that Microsoft’s cloud momentum remains intact. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with JMP Securities reaffirming an Outperform view after Copilot Cowork’s launch and other coverage pointing to Microsoft’s AI growth potential. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is still drawing investor attention as a long-term AI winner, but several commentary pieces argue the stock is also under pressure from higher valuation scrutiny and broad Magnificent 7 weakness. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft may cut thousands of jobs, including in Xbox, sales, and consulting, are fueling concern that heavy AI spending is pressuring margins and forcing cost reductions. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor class-action notices tied to alleged Copilot/Azure misrepresentations are adding legal overhang and keeping sentiment cautious around MSFT. Article Title

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 3.0%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $384.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $407.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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