Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Hoertkorn Richard Charles

Hoertkorn Richard Charles decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 32.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,588 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 12,698 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 8.1% of Hoertkorn Richard Charles’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Hoertkorn Richard Charles’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Forty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $556.37.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Morgan Stanley, Bernstein, Truist, and CLSA remained constructive on Microsoft, with reports calling the stock deeply undervalued and setting price targets well above current levels. Microsoft has 3 secret weapons that could drive its stock 50% higher, analyst says
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its strategic partnership with Mistral AI, adding another way to grow its cloud and AI ecosystem in Europe and regulated industries. Microsoft to fund Mistral’s European AI expansion in multibillion-dollar deal
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also deepened AI-related ties through new commitments to the DOE’s “Genesis Mission,” reinforcing its role in major public-sector AI infrastructure projects. Microsoft commits $60M to ‘Genesis Mission’ to help power Dept. of Energy’s AI-for-science push
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted record data-center demand led by hyperscalers including Microsoft, suggesting its AI infrastructure buildout remains robust despite the selloff. Sorry, AI Bears: Meta, Microsoft, and Google Lead Record Data Center Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s upcoming July 29 earnings report is the next major catalyst, with Wall Street focused on Azure growth, AI margins, and whether heavy capex is starting to bite.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles noted strong buy-the-dip interest from retail investors, but this is sentiment-driven rather than a direct business update.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern is growing that Microsoft’s elevated AI spending is becoming an overhang, potentially pressuring near-term profitability and limiting upside. Microsoft Q4 Earnings Preview – Oppenheimer Says Demand Is Healthy, ‘But Elevated Capex Remains an Overhang’ on MSFT Stock
• Negative Sentiment: New securities-fraud class-action headlines tied to alleged AI/Copilot disclosure issues are adding another layer of uncertainty for Microsoft investors. MSFT Shareholder Alert: Microsoft Corporation Securities Class Action Lawsuit – Investors with Losses May Contact Levi & Korsinsky

Microsoft Trading Down 1.9%

MSFT opened at $390.34 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $399.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $408.91. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors 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 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).