North Star Investment Management Corp. Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

North Star Investment Management Corp. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 93,835 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,782 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.1% of North Star Investment Management Corp.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 155.7% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $465.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $478.69 and a 200 day moving average of $501.18.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Microsoft from $655.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $639.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $618.18.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

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.

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).