Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC Decreases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 48,182 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,615 shares during the period. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $381.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $398.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $408.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the 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 directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Microsoft from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.40.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined 25 tech companies in urging U.S. policymakers not to impose broad restrictions on open-weight and open-source AI models, a stance that supports its broader AI ecosystem strategy and could help preserve flexibility for future product development. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also backed a coalition letter with Nvidia, Meta, and other firms arguing that open-weight AI is important for U.S. leadership, reinforcing investor confidence that the company remains a major AI platform player rather than being boxed into one model provider. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanded Databricks partnership extends a key cloud/data-AI relationship through the 2030s, which should help Azure adoption and strengthen long-term enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud services. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews ahead of Microsoft’s July 29 earnings report say the big investor focus will be FY2027 CapEx guidance and Azure growth, with analysts expecting strong results but worrying that AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and margins. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued class-action alerts and deadline reminders tied to Microsoft securities-fraud claims, including allegations related to Copilot disclosures, which adds headline risk and may keep some investors cautious into earnings. GlobeNewswire article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness tied to AI spending fears also weighed on Microsoft, as investors sold mega-cap names after seeing massive capital outlays across the sector and questioning near-term returns on AI investment. Fox Business article

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).