Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Community Trust & Investment Co.’s 2nd Largest Position

Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,511 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.3% of Community Trust & Investment Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $117,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 29.9% in the second quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 126 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $465.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $478.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $501.18.

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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Partners set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Microsoft from $655.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Rothschild Redb lowered Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $618.18.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New AI and robotics announcements — Microsoft unveiled robotics/agentic AI initiatives and pushed further into agentic AI for retail and frontline use, boosting enthusiasm that its product roadmap will translate into revenue from AI workloads. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Defense cloud contract — Microsoft won a sizable Air Force Cloud One task order (~$170M) that validates Azure’s position in government/defense spending and provides a tangible near‑term revenue win. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Investor reassessment of valuation — After recent weakness MSFT is seeing a rebound as analysts and market commentators highlight Microsoft’s relative growth, profitability and balance‑sheet strength versus software peers. That sentiment helped the stock move back up today. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reaffirmations and mixed targets — Several firms (Jefferies, Guggenheim, UBS) kept Buy ratings even as many groups trimmed price targets; that leaves a mix of support and pressure in the tape heading into earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple price‑target cuts and downgrades — A wave of target trims (Cantor Fitzgerald, Wells Fargo adjustments, Rothschild/Redburn cuts and other downgrades) is adding selling pressure and keeps expectations muted into the Jan. 28 earnings print. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Service outages and security/privacy headlines — Recent widespread Microsoft 365/Outlook outages disrupted customers and raised reliability concerns; separate reports about providing BitLocker recovery keys to the FBI introduce potential reputational/privacy scrutiny. Read More.

About Microsoft

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).