Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Clarius Group LLC

Posted by Defense World Staff on Dec 29th, 2025

Clarius Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 324,027 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 16,200 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 9.9% of Clarius Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $167,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% 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 corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $487.71 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $497.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $503.86. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Key Stores Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: High‑profile bullish analyst coverage and “breakout” 2026 thesis that support upside for MSFT and long‑term AI monetization. Why Analysts See 2026 as a Breakout Year for Microsoft Stock (MSFT)
Positive Sentiment: Firm bullish pieces arguing Microsoft is positioned for strong AI‑driven growth (OpenAI stake + Azure momentum), which supports a buy‑and‑hold case. Microsoft Positioned For Strong Growth
Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat highlights Microsoft’s entrenched enterprise moat and high switching costs — a defensive argument underpinning revenue durability and premium multiples. Microsoft May Look Pricey, But Customers Can’t Walk Away
Neutral Sentiment: Inclusion on “3 cloud stocks to buy” lists (alongside AMZN/GOOGL) reinforces Microsoft’s exposure to a potential cloud/AI cycle but is broad‑market, not MSFT‑specific. 3 Cloud Computing Stocks to Buy Before 2026 as Digital Demand Soars
Neutral Sentiment: Valuation debate — some analysts argue MSFT is a “compounder at any price,” others recommend accumulating slowly due to rich multiples and heavy capex; this is keeping some investors on the sidelines. Microsoft Faces a Key Question: Compounder at Any Price or Accumulate Slowly
Neutral Sentiment: Options “whale” activity shows large positioning in MSFT — could signal directional conviction but not definitive on sentiment. Monitor flows for confirmation. Check Out What Whales Are Doing With MSFT
Negative Sentiment: NVIDIA’s $20B Groq deal strengthens a competitor’s inference‑speed lead — a direct long‑term threat to Azure/AI hosting economics as inference demand grows; this likely weighs on MSFT sentiment today. NVIDIA’s $20B Groq Deal Is a Warning Shot to AI Rivals (MSFT)
Negative Sentiment: Investor concerns about Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI and Copilot adoption (reports that drove a recent pullback) are pressuring sentiment — execution and partner dynamics are key near‑term risks. Microsoft (MSFT) Fell Due to Concerns About Its Relationship With OpenAI
Negative Sentiment: Coverage noting the stock looks “pricey” and that heavy data‑center capex could pressure margins/returns in the near term — a valuation headwind for momentum investors. Microsoft May Look Pricey, But Customers Can’t Walk Away

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $630.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their target price on 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.03.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Profile

(Free Report)

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).