Brown Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Brown Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 877 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,376 shares during the period. Brown Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Silphium Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 23,558 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,202,000 after buying an additional 6,720 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.6% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,466 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,939,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. Finer Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the third quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,588 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,325,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,917 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Simmons Bank lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 98,213 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $50,869,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $403.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $440.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $81.27 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Huge, ongoing AI investments from Microsoft and peers underscore the company’s commitment to AI leadership and justify premium multiples for Azure and Copilot-related revenue growth. Microsoft and Alphabet Spend Billions On AI: A Closer Look
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s push into new data-center capacity (Michigan initiative) strengthens its ability to host AI workloads, reducing supply constraints and supporting future Azure/AI revenue. Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Gains With New Charm Offensive for Data Centers in Michigan
• Positive Sentiment: RBC reaffirmed an “outperform” rating, providing an analyst-level vote of confidence that can support buying interest after recent weakness. RBC Outperform Affirmed
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity and technical positioning show elevated trader interest and volatility—this can amplify moves but isn’t a clear directional catalyst on its own. Microsoft Stock Testing 2 Key Levels as Options Traders Pounce
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street pieces and commentators list MSFT among top large-cap AI/infra names to own—supportive long-term thesis but not an immediate catalyst. 2 Trillion-Dollar Stocks That Could Soar by 40% and 50%
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/video commentary highlights short-term SaaS volatility but sees Microsoft among rebound candidates—useful for traders, less so for long-term investors. SaaS-pocalypse Opportunities in MSFT, AMZN, PLTR, NOW & Others
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI is reportedly building a code-repository to rival GitHub, which could erode a strategic Microsoft asset and developer ecosystem advantage if it gains traction. OpenAI is developing alternative to Microsoft’s GitHub
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing “Microslop”/Copilot Discord controversy and criticism that MSFT is underperforming YTD weigh on sentiment and could pressure multiples if developer trust or user adoption is impacted. ‘It’s Performing Worse,’ Says Investor About Microsoft Stock

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. KeyCorp cut their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $660.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

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).