Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Raised by Avanza Fonder AB

Avanza Fonder AB increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 537,190 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,812 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 7.3% of Avanza Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $278,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. PMV Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Seek First Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the second quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Level Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. HSBC boosted their price target on Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $472.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $492.29 and a 200 day moving average of $503.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.63, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic AI/data-engineering deal — Microsoft acquired Seattle data‑engineering startup Osmos to automate data pipelines, strengthening Azure’s data and AI stack and supporting enterprise adoption of “autonomous data engineering.” This is a clear product/capability positive for long‑term cloud and AI revenue. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Big investor interest — Peter Thiel’s Thiel Macro built a large new position in Microsoft in Q3, signaling conviction from a high‑profile investor and potentially drawing other allocators to MSFT. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness — prominent analysts (e.g., Dan Ives/Wedbush) call 2026 an “inflection” year for Microsoft and RBC reiterated its buy rating, underpinning buy‑side confidence and supporting higher price targets. Read More. | Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive narrative reinforcement — several opinion pieces and newsletters are pushing Microsoft as a preferred AI play vs. competitors, which may support medium‑term flows but offers less immediate market impact than hard news. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism on AI leadership — traders are parsing Microsoft’s AI edge relative to Google, and that debate has pressured the stock as investors weigh differentiation, products, and margin risk in AI. This dynamic likely explains near‑term selling pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and social chatter — summaries of social media and insider activity show heavy insider sales (no recent buys) and mixed retail sentiment, which can sap confidence among momentum traders. Monitor insider activity disclosures for further market reaction. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/political risk — coverage that Microsoft (and McKinsey) helped fund a politically sensitive US “Davos” hub has drawn criticism; while not a core earnings issue, such PR events can prompt short‑term outflows from ESG‑sensitive funds. Read More.

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).