Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Lowered by ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC

ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 693,079 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 19,239 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.1% of ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $358,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1%

MSFT opened at $401.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $458.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $491.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis 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 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, February 9th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its sustainability leadership with two multi‑year carbon removal purchase deals totaling nearly 3 million tonnes, which bolsters ESG credentials and may support institutional demand from ESG‑focused investors. Microsoft Kicks Off 2026 With Flurry Of Large-Scale Carbon Removal Purchase Deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media continue to list Microsoft among top AI investment plays (alongside Nvidia & Alphabet), reinforcing long‑term demand narratives for Azure and Copilot products. This supports the stock’s growth story even amid short‑term volatility. Best AI Stocks 2026: NVIDIA, Microsoft, Alphabet Top the List
• Positive Sentiment: Large ETFs (including Vanguard funds) are positioned to capture the AI boom and include Microsoft, which can keep steady passive inflows into MSFT if AI optimism returns. 3 Vanguard ETFs Riding the AI Boom with Nvidia, Microsoft, and Tech Giants
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/market commentary sees potential post‑holiday recovery setups for major tech names, including MSFT, which is more a trading observation than a fundamentals change. MSFT, GOOG and AMZN Forecast – Major Tech Stocks Looking to Recover After President’s Day
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent hedge fund activity is mixed — some managers trimmed MSFT while others added to positions — indicating divergent institutional views but no clear one‑way pressure yet. (Examples include Sands Capital trimming and Maverick/Soros adding.) Sands Capital Management Trims Microsoft Stake, Sells 394,869 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Market anxiety from OpenAI’s large compute/backlog pledge has rippled to cloud partners; headlines suggest Oracle, Microsoft and Broadcom shares were hit on fears of elevated AI compute costs and margin pressure. OpenAI Backlog Shockwave: Are Investors Punishing Oracle, Microsoft And Broadcom Over Altman’s Trillion-Dollar Compute Bet?
• Negative Sentiment: Investor disappointment persists around Microsoft’s recent quarter: while results were broadly solid, several writeups note the company “fell short of expectations” on some metrics and that Copilot paying‑customer counts were smaller than hoped — factors driving short‑term selling. Investors Are Selling This AI Stock, but Is It Actually a Screaming Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: Additional hedge‑fund stake reductions (e.g., Altarock’s large cut) add to near‑term selling pressure and reflect some managers de‑risking amid the broader software/AI pullback. Altarock Partners Cuts Massive 486,910‑Share Microsoft Stake

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% 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.

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).