Eagle Bay Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,444 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,030 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.8% of Eagle Bay Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,073,486,000 after acquiring an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to view Microsoft as a high-quality AI and cloud name, with some arguing the stock looks cheaper after the recent decline.
• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming earnings later this month could provide a catalyst if Azure growth and AI-related demand remain strong.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft remains a major beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending, but investors are waiting for clearer proof that those investments will translate into faster profit growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s 4,800-job reduction and Xbox restructuring suggest ongoing cost pressure and restructuring challenges.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities class-action alerts tied to alleged AI/Copilot disclosure issues are adding legal and reputational risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about Microsoft’s OpenAI partnership and AI product execution are creating uncertainty around the company’s AI narrative.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

MSFT stock opened at $384.93 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $401.47 and its 200 day moving average is $412.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore dropped their price target on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. President Capital raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Arete Research boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.84.

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).