Delta Asset Management LLC TN Sells 2,475 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Delta Asset Management LLC TN reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 424,627 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,475 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 18.7% of Delta Asset Management LLC TN’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Delta Asset Management LLC TN’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $219,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532,054 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on MSFT, which reinforces buy-side sentiment and can support the stock after recent weakness. MarketScreener: RBC rating
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a Starlink partnership, a gaming leadership reshuffle (Asha Sharma named CEO of Microsoft Gaming) and expanded AI/data-center and sustainability initiatives — strategic moves that extend Azure reach and long-term cloud/AI revenue potential. Yahoo: Microsoft reshapes gaming and Azure
• Positive Sentiment: Macro and sector tailwinds: analysts point to rising enterprise software spending and a potential March market rally, which disproportionately helps large cloud/AI names like Microsoft. That supports expectations for continued revenue growth. Fool: enterprises spending more on AI software Zacks: March momentum
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity and technical action show heightened trading around key support/resistance levels — this can amplify short-term moves but doesn’t change fundamentals. Watch volume and option skew for clues on near-term direction. Schaeffers: options traders pounce
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical analysis notes MSFT is in the top decile of relative rankings but facing key resistance—this suggests upside may be capped until price clears those levels. Benzinga: technical analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Reputational/operational noise: a recent flare-up in the Copilot Discord required company attention; it hasn’t derailed momentum but is a reminder of product/community risk for AI rollouts. TipRanks: Copilot Discord furor
• Negative Sentiment: MSFT remains down materially from its highs and is ~7% lower since the last earnings release, highlighting investor skepticism about near-term growth and valuation pressure. That lingering post-earnings selloff continues to weigh on investor sentiment. Yahoo: MSFT down 7.3% since earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Industry headwind: a reported electrician shortage for AI data centers could limit near-term capacity expansion and raise costs for cloud providers, a potential operational constraint for Microsoft’s AI/data-center growth. Fortune: electrician shortage threatens AI buildout

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. New Street Research boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $392.00 target price (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $398.55 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 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $441.83 and a 200-day moving average of $482.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).