Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Decreased by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 591,282 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 47,948 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.4% of AGF Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $306,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $18,733,827,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after buying an additional 13,691,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Microsoft from $660.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. New Street Research raised their price objective on Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $392.74 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $443.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $483.24. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued 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 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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).