Apella Capital LLC Purchases 3,922 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Apella Capital LLC grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,743 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,922 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.0% of Apella Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second 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% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,823,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532,054 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $50,493,678,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after acquiring an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of MSFT opened at $478.11 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $488.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $503.66. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major analyst support remains intact — Jefferies reiterated a Buy on MSFT with a $675 target, and other firms (Wedbush, Scotiabank) continue positive stances, reinforcing a bullish long-term AI/cloud story. Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI Strategy Reinforces Its Position as a Long-Term Winner, Analyst Says
• Positive Sentiment: New commercial partnerships extend Copilot/Azure monetization paths — PayPal will power checkout in Copilot and Fiserv has an AI partnership to embed Microsoft tech, both help drive direct revenue/usage for Copilot and Azure. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum and enterprise demand remain strong — reporting around robust Azure demand, agentic AI tools for retail, and new robotics/automation partnerships that expand Azure’s TAM. These support revenue visibility and margin recovery as AI deployments scale. Microsoft Unleashes Agentic AI To Automate Every Corner Of Retail
• Neutral Sentiment: EU digital-rule update reportedly spares big tech from the strictest measures — less regulatory tightening would be neutral-to-positive for MSFT but it’s a policy development to monitor. Exclusive: Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target consensus points to sizable upside (~30% mean) and multiple firms flag MSFT as a top AI play — bullish medium-term context but not an immediate catalyst. Wall Street Analysts Predict a 30.32% Upside in Microsoft (MSFT)
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings and corporate cadence — Microsoft announced its quarterly earnings date; previews suggest continued double‑digit growth expectations, making the report a potential near-term catalyst. Microsoft announces quarterly-earnings release date
• Negative Sentiment: Layoff rumors and cost worries have circulated (reports of thousands of cuts); Microsoft publicly pushed back calling some figures “100 percent made up,” but the rumor flow can pressure sentiment and drive short-term selling. “100 Percent Made Up”: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slips in Response to Layoff Rumors
• Negative Sentiment: Local opposition to a proposed data center in Michigan and broader community pushback could create PR/headwind risks and slow site builds — timing/permits matter for capacity expansion plans. Microsoft revealed as company behind controversial data center proposal in Michigan township
• Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure around OpenAI (lawsuit allowed to proceed to trial) is a reputational/legal risk given Microsoft’s close ties and investments in OpenAI. Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing ChatGPT-maker OpenAI Of Betraying Its Nonprofit Mission Can Go To Trial, Judge Rules

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Microsoft from $700.00 to $665.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.11.

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).