Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Lifted by Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 204,701 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,150 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.5% of Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $106,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $50,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 71.2% in the 3rd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, New Street Research upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $597.73.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management moves to accelerate AI sales — Microsoft promoted commercial sales leaders to shorten the customer feedback loop and speed enterprise AI adoption, which may help convert AI investments into revenue faster. Microsoft promotes sales leaders as company pursues AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and upgrades — Some brokers have reiterated buy/strong‑buy ratings and high price targets after the quarter, arguing the pullback presents a long‑term buying opportunity. That institutional backing can cushion further downside. Phillip Securities upgrade via Zacks
• Positive Sentiment: Product roadmap: Maia chip and AI cloud positioning — Microsoft is highlighting new AI hardware (Maia chip) and cloud AI capability expansion, reinforcing its competitive positioning in the AI stack. If deployments monetize, this supports longer‑term growth. Microsoft highlights Maia chip launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Hardware cycle signal — Market signals (e.g., SanDisk strength) point to an edge AI hardware refresh that benefits OEMs and infrastructure suppliers; Microsoft could benefit indirectly via Azure demand but the primary winners may be hardware vendors. The AI in a Box Trade: Hardware Is the Next Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: AI ecosystem deals highlight secular demand — Large partnerships in the cloud/AI space (e.g., Snowflake + OpenAI) validate ongoing enterprise AI spend, which is a positive structural tailwind for Microsoft’s cloud services even if near‑term economics are under pressure. Snowflake’s $200M Bet: Can The OpenAI Deal Fix the Slump?
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings reaction: growth vs. spending worries — Analysts and investors punished the stock after results: revenue/earnings beat but Azure growth cooled and management signaled heavy AI capex, raising concerns that spending will weigh on near‑term margins and guidance. That is the primary driver of today’s decline. Here’s Why Microsoft Fell After Earnings, Despite Beating Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/regulatory risk in Europe — France and other European actors pushing native alternatives to Teams/Zoom underscore digital‑sovereignty headwinds that could slow enterprise adoption or create regional revenue pressure over time. France ditches Zoom and Teams for homegrown system
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target trims and insider selling amplify caution — Some firms trimmed targets and public filings show material insider sales; combined with high volume selling, this reinforces near‑term downward pressure despite long‑term bull cases. Analysts Cut Microsoft (MSFT) Price Targets

Microsoft Trading Down 2.9%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $411.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $473.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $498.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).