Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Midwest Trust Co’s 2nd Largest Position

Midwest Trust Co lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 740,195 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,191 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.5% of Midwest Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Midwest Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $357,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Build announcements suggest it is broadening its AI platform with proprietary models and agentic tools, which could reduce reliance on OpenAI and improve margins over time.
• Positive Sentiment: New partnerships and integrations with Nvidia, healthcare groups like Mayo Clinic, and third-party enterprise tools expand Microsoft’s ecosystem and may support future cloud demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and investor commentary remains constructive, with several reports arguing that Microsoft’s AI opportunity and Azure growth still look underappreciated. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s quantum-computing update and AI infrastructure ambitions are long-term catalysts, but they are not expected to contribute meaningfully to near-term earnings. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some investors appear to be taking profits after the Build rally and remain cautious about Microsoft’s heavy AI spending and execution risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Judson Althoff’s disclosed share sale may add to short-term sentiment pressure, even though the transaction was relatively small compared with his remaining holdings. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Microsoft to $502.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.20.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.2%

MSFT opened at $427.34 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $405.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $432.76. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. 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 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 29,083 shares of company stock worth $12,710,152 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).