Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Sells 126,839 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc cut its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 351,187 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 126,839 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.4% of Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $181,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. IRON Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 23.2% during the third quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,372,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.6% during the second quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% in the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,700,000 after buying an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

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

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9%

Microsoft stock opened at $401.14 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $468.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $496.10. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid 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 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $392.00 target price (down previously from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price target (down from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $596.95.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).