Keybank National Association OH Lowers Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Keybank National Association OH lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,771,373 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,440 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.7% of Keybank National Association OH’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,025,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,664,631,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. HSBC dropped their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.84.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $384.93 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $401.47 and a 200-day moving average of $412.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a P/E 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 quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

More Microsoft News

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.

About Microsoft

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).