Mirova US LLC Sells 78,741 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Mirova US LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,885,058 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 78,741 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 9.9% of Mirova US LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Mirova US LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $976,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

More Microsoft News

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim set a $675.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho cut shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.76.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $479.28 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $488.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $503.79. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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).