First Dallas Securities Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

First Dallas Securities Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 34.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,672 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,650 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.5% of First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is pushing sales teams to sell its AI offerings as a more secure and lower-cost alternative to OpenAI and Anthropic, highlighting its ability to monetize enterprise demand and defend its AI ecosystem. Microsoft Coaches Sales Staff to Challenge OpenAI and Anthropic on Costs and Security
• Positive Sentiment: 3M announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft tied to Azure data centers and enterprise transformation, which adds another validation point for Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure strategy. 3M and Microsoft announce strategic partnership to advance AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is overhauling its cybersecurity business to capture more spending from AI-driven threats, which could open a new growth lane as customers increase security budgets. Microsoft (MSFT) Overhauls Cybersecurity Business to Cash In on AI Threats
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a $2.5 billion initiative to help large customers deploy AI systems around their own data and workflows, reinforcing its enterprise AI moat. How Microsoft (MSFT) Is Deepening Its Enterprise AI Moat With a $2.5 Billion Customer Deployment Initiative

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $395.63 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $401.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $412.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $557.96.

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).