Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Lessened by Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida

Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,939 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,654 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.3% of Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the second quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373 shares during the last quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the first quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.8% in the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.3% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,700,000 after buying an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and coverage point to improving AI economics — reports say Azure AI margins are positive and revenue is likely to beat estimates, supporting near-term earnings upside and giving investors confidence in cloud monetization. Azure AI margins article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft pledged $17.5 billion of investment in AI and cloud infrastructure in India — a large, long-term growth initiative that should expand Azure adoption and enterprise spending in a major emerging market. India investment article
• Positive Sentiment: New enterprise partnerships (Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro) and a Cognizant-led push to scale Microsoft 365/GitHub Copilot & agentic AI deployments could accelerate commercial adoption and drive higher software and Azure consumption. Partnerships article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined the U.S. “Genesis Mission” AI initiative alongside top AI firms — positioning MSFT to capture government and scientific AI spend and reinforcing strategic leadership in national AI programs. Genesis Mission article
• Positive Sentiment: Partner-channel and device news helped sentiment — LG’s reported backpedal on making Copilot mandatory drove a small positive knee-jerk move, easing concerns about forced integrations and signaling partner flexibility. LG Copilot article
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary frames MSFT as a durable AI/dividend play — pieces highlighting dividend/long-term strength keep buy-and-hold narratives alive but are unlikely to move price materially on their own. MarketBeat dividend article
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer-product updates (Office 2024 upgrade) and legacy product refreshes support steady software sales, but are lower-impact versus cloud/AI developments. Office 2024 article
• Negative Sentiment: Jim Cramer warned that Microsoft “requires mass spending” to keep Azure competitive — a direct headline that reinforces investor worries about rising capex and margin pressure as MSFT scales data centers and AI infrastructure. Cramer spending article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI/tech jitters and commentary about “ballooning” capex have pressured the stock in recent weeks; that narrative could cap multiple expansion until evidence of durable margin recovery is clear. CapEx concerns article

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

MSFT stock opened at $485.92 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $499.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $503.02. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

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).