Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 364,798 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 15,587 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.2% of Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $176,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 287.0% during 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 during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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?

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $418.57 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $399.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $436.92. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen raised Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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).