Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 73,466.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,449 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 15,428 shares during the quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NavPoint Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the third quarter. NavPoint Financial Inc. now owns 2,806 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Embree Financial Group lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 53,676 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,802,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 18,636 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,653,000 after buying an additional 1,806 shares during the last quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 8,777 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,546,000 after buying an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the third quarter. North Capital Inc. now owns 3,515 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $486.85 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $498.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $503.53. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.89%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore named Microsoft a top software pick for 2026, citing enterprise software strength and AI exposure—boosts investor confidence in MSFT’s secular growth story. Microsoft, Salesforce Lead Evercore’s 2026 Picks
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish calls (Wedbush/Dan Ives and others) forecast a big AI-driven revenue bump in 2026 and reaffirm outperform ratings and lofty price targets, supporting upward pressure on the stock. Microsoft Stock Has 29% Upside in 2026, Says Dan Ives
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s internal dev move to standardize code (shifting priorities among languages) is being framed as productivity and engineering efficiency wins that can lower costs and speed product delivery. C Out, Rust In: Microsoft Stock Gains With New Code Standardization Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Analyses arguing Microsoft could be a top AI beneficiary in 2026 (scale of Azure, Copilot integrations, data-center investment) underpin long-term upside expectations for enterprise cloud and AI revenue. Why Microsoft Could Be the Biggest AI Winner in 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Policy change: DHS is replacing the H‑1B lottery with a weighted selection prioritizing higher-paid, skilled hires; Microsoft was a top recipient—this alters talent sourcing dynamics but the net impact on MSFT hiring/costs is ambiguous. Trump administration moves to overhaul H-1B visas
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector pieces positioning AI as the dominant 2026 investment theme keep Microsoft in investors’ watch lists but also raise expectations and scrutiny around capex and margin trade-offs. Three must-own stocks if AI spending will remain strong in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Execution concerns: reports that Satya Nadella pushed teams on Copilot progress and commentary that OpenAI ties may be a liability have raised questions about adoption, execution risk, and partnership complexity. These stories can pressure the stock despite bullish AI forecasts. Microsoft CEO Pushes Staff on Copilot Ambitions
• Negative Sentiment: Critical analysis warns of overbuilding (heavy AI capex) and OpenAI-related risks which could weigh on margins and capital intensity if revenue ramp is slower than expected. Microsoft: Not Immune To The Risk Of Overbuilding

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.03.

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).