Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Allstate Corp’s 10th Largest Position

Allstate Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1,721.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 256,790 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 242,692 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.0% of Allstate Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $133,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Violich Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 6.6% in the third quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 177,251 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $91,807,000 after acquiring an additional 10,966 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 287,192 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $150,483,000 after purchasing an additional 7,482 shares in the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 19,573 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,138,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. CAP Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 4,248 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $19,789,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $641.00 price objective (down previously from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $655.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $404.37 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $463.95 and a 200-day moving average of $494.08. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partnership and commercial wins — Microsoft expanded its sovereign cloud work with Capgemini, a deal that supports European cloud adoption and strengthens sales channels for Azure. This can help sustain predictable enterprise bookings. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Security fixes for actively exploited bugs — Microsoft pushed February patches for critical Windows/Office zero‑day vulnerabilities used in one‑click attacks, reducing near‑term operational and legal risk for customers and the company. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Data center efficiency initiatives — Microsoft is exploring superconducting power lines and other efficiency measures for its data centers, which could lower long‑term capex/unit costs for its AI infrastructure build. That helps the margin/cash‑flow story over time. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying amid the pullback — Some asset managers (e.g., Fisher Asset Management) have increased positions, signaling conviction from large investors that the pullback creates a buying opportunity. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Underlying cloud migration demand — Analysis argues that steady SQL/legacy migrations to Azure are a durable revenue base (RPO backlog) that cushions AI‑related lumpiness; this is more of a structural reminder than an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern over AI capex and guidance — Reports and commentary highlight record AI spending, lumpiness in cloud growth and conservative near‑term Azure guidance; those worries have pressured the stock as markets digest margin and free‑cash‑flow risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and position trims — Melius downgraded MSFT citing AI capex and cash‑flow risks; Morningstar and some funds trimmed holdings, which contributes to downward pressure from active and quant flows. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Marketwide software sell‑off and sentiment swing — Broader tech/software weakness and short‑term momentum trading amplified MSFT’s decline after the earnings‑period re‑rating, even though fundamentals remain mixed. Article Title

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).