AE Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 879,949 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,967 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.9% of AE Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $455,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas / Microsoft discussion suggests OpenAI’s updated spending plan still benefits cloud providers — Microsoft weighed in on OpenAI and Anthropic during a BNP sit-down, with analysts framing OpenAI’s revised spending as a net positive for Microsoft’s Azure and AI services. Microsoft weighs in on OpenAI, Anthropic, and AI spending during BNP sit-down
• Positive Sentiment: Options-market bullish signal may attract short-term buying — an ultra-rare bullish technical/options setup was flagged by traders, drawing attention to potential tactical inflows into MSFT options/stock. Microsoft Stock Just Flashed an Ultra-Rare Bullish Signal for Options Traders
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink expands connectivity and enterprise reach — new Starlink collaboration supports Microsoft’s global access and Orbital AI initiatives, a strategic move to extend Azure/AI services into underserved regions. Microsoft and SpaceX’s Starlink partner on global community internet effort
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnerships ease fears that AI will displace software — Anthropic’s enterprise integrations (including plugins that work with Excel) have calmed some investor anxiety about AI eating traditional software revenue, indirectly supporting Microsoft’s ecosystem value. Anthropic eases software’s AI fears with enterprise partnerships
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox leadership change ties gaming to AI strategy — Phil Spencer’s retirement and Asha Sharma’s promotion from CoreAI signal Microsoft will lean gaming further into AI, which may be strategic long‑term but is execution dependent. Microsoft Ties Xbox Leadership To AI Cloud And Security Ambitions
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/industry notes: Evercore highlights Microsoft’s free cash flow resilience amid hyperscaler capex — a soothing data point versus peers even as capex rises. Microsoft stands out as lone Mag 7 hyperscaler to increase FCF during AI capex splurge: Evercore
• Negative Sentiment: High AI capex and valuation concerns keep pressure on shares — analysts and stories (including a deep-dive on Microsoft’s multibillion capex plans) continue to raise questions about timing and returns on massive data-center spending. Microsoft’s $83.09 Billion Decision Could Shape What Happens Next
• Negative Sentiment: Technicals signal risk — coverage highlights MSFT’s selloff approaching a long‑term support crossroads (200‑week), which could intensify volatility if broken. Microsoft’s selloff is approaching a critical crossroads unseen in over 10 years
• Negative Sentiment: Public criticism from investors (Michael Burry) claims aggressive accounting to understate AI costs — such headlines can ratchet short-term selling and heighten regulatory/market scrutiny. Michael Burry Warns MSFT, GOOG, META Are Using ‘Sinister’ Accounting To Hide AI Costs, Inflate Profits By 20%

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $389.00 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $448.58 and a 200-day moving average of $485.89. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed 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. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $660.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.95.

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).