Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is AXS Investments LLC’s 9th Largest Position

AXS Investments LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 25.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,081 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,867 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.5% of AXS Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $660.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $392.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $443.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $483.50.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 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 presently 22.76%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at BNP and others say OpenAI’s large new funding round should still benefit Microsoft because of its deep Azure and infrastructure ties — a reminder that MSFT remains a key AI partner and infrastructure provider. OpenAI’s massive funding round should benefit Microsoft, Oracle: BNP
• Positive Sentiment: An insider (director Stanton John) bought roughly $2M of MSFT stock, signalling confidence from management-level insiders during the pullback. Director Stanton John Just Bought $2 Million of Microsoft Stock
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat / Altimetry note that Microsoft is “at the center of AI” with high switching costs and under-appreciated fundamentals — an argument that current valuation weakness is sentiment-driven and could reverse. AI Is Separating Software Winners From Losers, 2 Experts Explain
• Positive Sentiment: Dynamics 365 business applications continue to post solid mid-teens to high‑teens growth and are cited as a consistent driver of Productivity & Business Processes revenue — a durable growth stream beyond Azure. Can Microsoft Stock Rally on Dynamics 365 Business Applications?
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced its next quarterly dividend payable March 13 — a steady income signal but unlikely to move the stock materially amid the current narrative-driven trading. Microsoft to pay dividends on March 13; Here’s how much 100 MSFT shares will earn
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction to OpenAI’s announcement cut both ways: Microsoft wasn’t named among some of the latest funding/partner headlines, prompting investor worry about its standing with OpenAI and driving selling pressure. What’s Behind The Drop In Microsoft Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Japan’s authorities carried out a raid tied to suspected antitrust issues around Microsoft’s cloud business, raising regulatory risk in a major market. Microsoft Japan raided over suspected violation of anti-monopoly law, source says
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/real‑estate headwinds: reports of data center/building delays and related execution noise have been cited as a near-term drag on sentiment. “On Hold Until Further Notice”: Microsoft Stock Slumps With Building Delay
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI-capex and semiconductor market jitters (Nvidia-centric weakness) are depressing the megacap tech complex; investors are weighing heavy industry capex against margins and balance-sheet strain. That macro pressure is spilling over to Microsoft. Nvidia Fails to Reassure—Heard on the Street

Microsoft 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).