Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lessened by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,104 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,738 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.6% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $44,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft’s AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft’s GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1%

MSFT stock opened at $418.57 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $399.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $437.48. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. New Street Research decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $560.88.

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).