Beck Mack & Oliver LLC Sells 72,175 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 574,732 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 72,175 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 5.4% of Beck Mack & Oliver LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $297,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 418,323 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $216,081,000 after acquiring an additional 12,380 shares during the last quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,300 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,924,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Alight Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alight Capital Management LP now owns 50,000 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,898,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Altimeter Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the third quarter. Altimeter Capital Management LP now owns 1,162,092 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $601,906,000 after acquiring an additional 103,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alua Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,253,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.6%

MSFT opened at $395.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $427.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $476.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st 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 is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective (down from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.95.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft has a near-term product catalyst: a $99/month AI tools bundle (includes Copilot capabilities) with a May 1 launch that could drive commercial adoption and recurring ARR growth. Microsoft Is Racing to Beat Claude Cowork. A Big Catalyst for MSFT Stock Is Coming May 1.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding into healthcare AI with Copilot Health (can read medical records and provide personalized insights) and partner integrations, opening a large vertical market and cross?sell opportunities for Azure and Copilot. Microsoft launched a new healthcare chatbot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft 365 E7 bundles Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude Cowork and security tools — a premium enterprise offering that can lift average revenue per user for large customers. Analysts continue to highlight AI-driven revenue upside. Microsoft’s New E7 AI Suite And Healthcare Push Shape Long-Term Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox/product cycle news: Microsoft is advancing Project Helix (next?gen Xbox) but prototypes won’t reach developers until 2027 — positive for long-term console moat but not an immediate revenue driver. Microsoft’s Next Xbox Moves Closer to Reality: What It Means for MSFT Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Gaming/graphics tech progress (DirectX/advanced shader delivery with NVIDIA/Intel) reduces frictions for PC gaming and helps Xbox/Windows gaming competitiveness but is a more gradual, longer-term tailwind. DirectX Gears Up For ML Era On Windows
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about huge AI data?center capex and public pushback over electricity/costs is weighing on the stock; large lease and buildouts boost growth but increase near?term cash burn. Who is really footing the AI energy bill? Inside the debate about data center electricity costs
• Negative Sentiment: Security scare: reports of a new vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator have spooked investors and triggered selling pressure tied to identity/security risk. New Vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator Sends Microsoft Stock Sliding
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership change: Rajesh Jha, a long?time head of experiences and devices (Office/Copilot products), announced retirement — creates short?term execution/transition uncertainty. Microsoft’s Rajesh Jha, head of experiences and devices unit, to retire
• Negative Sentiment: Options and flows show increased demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), reflecting trader caution after the pullback. Option traders moderately bearish in Microsoft with shareslittle changed

Microsoft 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).