Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is First Horizon Corp’s 4th Largest Position

First Horizon Corp raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,259 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,120 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.0% of First Horizon Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. First Horizon Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted 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. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 287.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “market outperform” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. President Capital boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.2%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $381.58 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $349.20 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $399.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $408.26.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its partnership with Databricks through the 2030s, deepening integrations across Azure, Microsoft 365, Teams and Copilot and reinforcing its cloud and AI ecosystem. Microsoft (MSFT) Expands Partnership with AI Firm Databricks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also deepened ties with AI startup Mistral, adding another strategic AI partner and broadening its footprint in regulated industries and Europe. Microsoft and Mistral expand strategic partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft committed $60 million and Azure compute credits to the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Genesis Mission,” highlighting ongoing investment in AI-for-science initiatives and government relationships. Microsoft commits $60M to ‘Genesis Mission’
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remained constructive, with Truist reiterating a buy rating and a $575 price target, suggesting substantial upside if earnings and AI demand remain solid. Analyst note on Microsoft

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).