Davis Rea LTD. Sells 5,017 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Davis Rea LTD. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,402 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,017 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.9% of Davis Rea LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Davis Rea LTD.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 12,386 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,415,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 17,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,175,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the third quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 15,731 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,148,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Finally, Forbes J M & Co. LLP grew its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 157,067 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $81,353,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were 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 $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was 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 insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and notes highlighting Microsoft’s relatively durable free cash flow versus other hyperscalers are soothing investors worried about AI capex. Why Microsoft’s Cash Flow Sets It Apart from Other Hyperscalers
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s large, funded partner programs (notably the multibillion‑dollar IREN deal) are progressing — IREN secured financing and management says Microsoft prepayments/backing reduce execution risk for deploying AI capacity. That validates Microsoft’s ability to source external infrastructure without bearing all capex. IREN Earnings Were Ugly—Is a Beautiful Future Already Funded?
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional flows show some buyers stepping in (reported stake increases by managers), suggesting bargain hunting after the pullback. Manning & Napier Advisors boosts Microsoft stake
• Positive Sentiment: Government partnerships (UK deepfake detection) reinforce Microsoft’s regulatory/trust positioning for AI tools — a reputational plus that can support enterprise adoption. Britain to work with Microsoft to build deepfake detection system
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader hyperscaler capex is surging (reports of ~$700B combined spending), a structural trend that supports long‑term AI revenue but puts near‑term pressure on free cash flow across the group. Tech AI spending may approach $700 billion this year, but the blow to cash raises red flags
• Neutral Sentiment: Infrastructure market evolution (bitcoin miners pivoting to lease power to AI customers) creates more supplier options for Microsoft to scale capacity without owning all sites — strategic but execution‑dependent. The Great Pivot: Bitcoin Miners Are Becoming AI’s Landlords
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel’s rare downgrade (Hold) and analyst concern about Google/Anthropic competition for Azure weighed on sentiment earlier this week and triggered part of the sell‑off. Microsoft Stock Gets a Rare Downgrade. AI Competition Is Heating Up for Azure.
• Negative Sentiment: Specific execution worries — slower Copilot adoption and signs of softer Azure acceleration in the quarter — remain key risk points investors are watching; these were central to the post‑earnings sell‑off. Microsoft (MSFT) Stock: Should You Buy After 22% Plunge?
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/market psychology: an AI‑led rotation has erased large amounts of Big Tech market value, amplifying volatility for Microsoft even when fundamentals look mixed. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $641.00 price objective (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $596.95.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $401.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $468.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $496.24. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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).