Leelyn Smith LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,916 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,227 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.6% of Leelyn Smith LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is pushing sales teams to sell its AI offerings as a more secure and lower-cost alternative to OpenAI and Anthropic, highlighting its ability to monetize enterprise demand and defend its AI ecosystem. Microsoft Coaches Sales Staff to Challenge OpenAI and Anthropic on Costs and Security
• Positive Sentiment: 3M announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft tied to Azure data centers and enterprise transformation, which adds another validation point for Microsoft’s cloud and AI infrastructure strategy. 3M and Microsoft announce strategic partnership to advance AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is overhauling its cybersecurity business to capture more spending from AI-driven threats, which could open a new growth lane as customers increase security budgets. Microsoft (MSFT) Overhauls Cybersecurity Business to Cash In on AI Threats
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched a $2.5 billion initiative to help large customers deploy AI systems around their own data and workflows, reinforcing its enterprise AI moat. How Microsoft (MSFT) Is Deepening Its Enterprise AI Moat With a $2.5 Billion Customer Deployment Initiative

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $395.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $349.20 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $401.10 and a 200 day moving average of $412.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $620.00 to $570.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. New Street Research decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Forty-one research 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $557.96.

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).