Ethic Inc. Sells 18,926 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Ethic Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 665,975 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 18,926 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.7% of Ethic Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $344,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft 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 transaction 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 trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Office 365 subscription growth is accelerating (commercial + consumer uptake, higher-tier migration and AI features boosting revenue per user), which supports recurring revenue and margin resilience. MSFT’s Office 365 Subscription Growth Picks Up
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched agentic AI solutions for retailers (automation across merchandising, store ops and fulfillment) — expands monetization avenues for Azure/Copilot in commerce. Microsoft Introduces Agentic AI Solutions for Retailers
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal will power Copilot Checkout flows, a partnership that helps drive payments volume inside Microsoft’s Copilot ecosystem and could lift monetization of consumer workflows. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Prominent commentators and analysts remain constructive — Jim Cramer voiced continued confidence in Microsoft, and firms (Wedbush/Jefferies/Scotiabank coverage) reiterate upside tied to Azure/AI momentum. These endorsements support investor sentiment. Jim Cramer Says “Going Forward, I Still Feel Pretty Good About Microsoft”
• Neutral Sentiment: EU digital rule overhaul reportedly won’t impose heavy-handed restrictions on big tech — reduces a regulatory overhang but is broadly industry-wide news. Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul
• Negative Sentiment: Reports say AI‑capable PC sales came in below expectations, denting the near‑term hardware/AI upgrade narrative that had been a tailwind for Microsoft’s Windows/partner ecosystem. “AI Confuses Them More Than it Helps…”: Microsoft Stock Slips as AI PC Sales Less Than Expected
• Negative Sentiment: Rumors of large job cuts circulated (company communications called the figures inaccurate), creating headline risk around rising AI costs and cost‑base adjustments. Short-term volatility can follow such reports even when later denied. “100 Percent Made Up”: Microsoft Stock Slips in Response to Layoff Rumors
• Negative Sentiment: Local opposition emerged after Microsoft was identified as the developer behind a contentious Michigan data‑center proposal — potential permitting delays and PR drag. Microsoft behind controversial data center proposal in Michigan

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $479.28 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $488.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $503.71. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

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. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Rothschild Redb downgraded Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Mizuho cut Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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).