Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s 5th Largest Position

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 589,634 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,776 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $218,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Midwest Trust Co increased its holdings in Microsoft by 5.3% in the first quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 779,476 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,539,000 after buying an additional 39,281 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 59.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,576,422 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,694,054,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,110 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 32,102 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,322 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.1% during the 1st quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 59,112 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,105,000 after acquiring an additional 11,105 shares during the period. Finally, Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 537,630 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $199,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.40.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $381.70 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $398.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $407.62. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $349.20 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined 25 tech companies in urging U.S. policymakers not to impose broad restrictions on open-weight and open-source AI models, a stance that supports its broader AI ecosystem strategy and could help preserve flexibility for future product development. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also backed a coalition letter with Nvidia, Meta, and other firms arguing that open-weight AI is important for U.S. leadership, reinforcing investor confidence that the company remains a major AI platform player rather than being boxed into one model provider. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanded Databricks partnership extends a key cloud/data-AI relationship through the 2030s, which should help Azure adoption and strengthen long-term enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud services. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews ahead of Microsoft’s July 29 earnings report say the big investor focus will be FY2027 CapEx guidance and Azure growth, with analysts expecting strong results but worrying that AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and margins. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued class-action alerts and deadline reminders tied to Microsoft securities-fraud claims, including allegations related to Copilot disclosures, which adds headline risk and may keep some investors cautious into earnings. GlobeNewswire article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness tied to AI spending fears also weighed on Microsoft, as investors sold mega-cap names after seeing massive capital outlays across the sector and questioning near-term returns on AI investment. Fox Business article

Microsoft Company 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).