Welch & Forbes LLC Cuts Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 881,583 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,877 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.2% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $326,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in 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 position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $381.70 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $555.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $398.21 and its 200 day moving average is $407.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Arete Research raised their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. New Street Research dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 6th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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).