Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Essex LLC

Essex LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,780 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,777 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.2% of Essex LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Essex LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $18,733,827,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $690.00 to $660.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho reduced their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly beat — Microsoft reported $4.14 EPS and ~$81.3B revenue, topping consensus and reassuring investors on core demand. Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations with $81.3B revenue
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI payoff — Microsoft recorded a ~$7.6B gain tied to OpenAI activity, which boosted non‑GAAP EPS and highlights monetization of its AI investments. Microsoft gained $7.6 billion from OpenAI last quarter
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud momentum — Azure and Microsoft Cloud continued strong growth (reports cite large percentage gains and Microsoft Cloud topping ~$50B quarterly), supporting the longer-term AI/cloud thesis. Microsoft beats Q2 earnings as Azure jumps 39%
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure and long-term positioning — New Maia 200 AI chip rollout and approvals for more data centers support MSFT’s effort to control stack and reduce third‑party GPU exposure. Microsoft’s Maia 200: The Profit Engine AI Needs
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance roughly in line but watched closely — Microsoft issued revenue guidance near the Street range (~$80.7B–$81.8B), leaving limited upside vs. elevated cloud expectations. See the company press materials for details. Microsoft earnings press release
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst activity — Some firms reiterated buys and raised targets (e.g., BNP Paribas/Raymond James), while others trimmed targets citing margin pressure; this produced divergent analyst reactions rather than a consensus swing. BNP Paribas raises price target
• Negative Sentiment: Record capex and AI hardware spending — Microsoft reported very large capital expenditures (well above some estimates), fueling investor concern about near‑term margin pressure and free‑cash‑flow timing. Microsoft drops after reporting record spending on AI hardware
• Negative Sentiment: Cloud growth expectations vs. reality — Headlines noting cloud growth “slowed” vs. sky‑high expectations and commentary that elevated cloud targets left limited upside helped trigger after‑hours selling. Microsoft edges past cloud growth expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Immediate market reaction — Despite the beat, traders sold after the report (several outlets flagged a sharp post‑earnings drop) as investors focused on capex, guidance nuance, and elevated expectations. Microsoft’s stock could see its sharpest post-earnings drop in over three years
• Negative Sentiment: Other headwinds — A few operational/competitive items (third‑party Xbox cancellations, France pulling back on videoconferencing contracts) were noted as marginal drags on sentiment. Microsoft slips on third-party Xbox game cancellations

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $481.63 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $477.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $500.68.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

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).