Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,582 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,388 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.9% of Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $49,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth 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. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Phillip Securities raised Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $556.37.
More Microsoft News
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its strategic partnership with Mistral AI to strengthen Europe-focused AI infrastructure and bring Mistral models deeper into Microsoft’s cloud and AI platforms, reinforcing its long-term AI growth story. Reuters article on Microsoft funding Mistral’s European AI expansion
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley turned constructive on Microsoft, saying sentiment on software stocks has become too negative and assigning MSFT an Overweight rating with a $600 price target. Investopedia article on Morgan Stanley software picks
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators say Microsoft could be undervalued heading into earnings, with several pieces arguing the stock may be a bargain if Azure growth and AI execution improve. TipRanks article on Microsoft as a bargain ahead of earnings
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is scheduled to report fiscal Q4 results on July 29, and investors are focusing on Azure growth, AI spending, and Copilot adoption as the key questions for the call. Proactive Investors article on Microsoft earnings and Azure growth
- Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanded AI deal with AMD also supports the bull case for Azure infrastructure, but it underscores that Microsoft is still spending heavily to secure future AI capacity rather than immediately harvesting profits. Proactive Investors article on Microsoft expanding AMD partnership
- Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued fresh class-action reminders tied to Microsoft’s alleged AI misstatements, keeping legal risk in the spotlight and adding pressure on sentiment. Pomerantz class-action alert for Microsoft investors
- Negative Sentiment: Headlines about a securities fraud lawsuit and allegations that Microsoft overstated Copilot functionality may weigh on the stock by reinforcing concerns around AI execution and disclosure. PR Newswire lawsuit notice on Microsoft Copilot functionality
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Microsoft Trading Down 1.1%
NASDAQ MSFT opened at $397.75 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $399.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $409.57. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 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. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
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 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 yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.
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).
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