Trivest Advisors Ltd Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Trivest Advisors Ltd raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 881.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 490,700 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 440,700 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 8.1% of Trivest Advisors Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Trivest Advisors Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $254,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 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: Microsoft launched Copilot Cowork (AI agents powered by Anthropic’s Claude), reinforcing its enterprise AI roadmap and positioning Copilot as a platform to drive Azure consumption and seat-based revenue. Microsoft taps Anthropic for Copilot Cowork in push for AI agents
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft rolled out an enterprise AI bundle and a higher-priced M365 tier (E7 / $99/user per month) that could accelerate Copilot adoption, lift average revenue per user, and create predictable recurring revenue. Microsoft Unveils AI-Centric $99-Per-User Software Bundle
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is publicly keeping Anthropic-powered products available to many customers despite the Pentagon’s supply-chain designation of Anthropic — a move that preserves Microsoft’s access to Claude (and associated Azure consumption) but also keeps the company exposed to geopolitical/regulatory headlines. Microsoft Positioned to Win AI Race With Dual-Model Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentators are debating valuation after the stock’s pullback; some see the drop as a buying opportunity while others highlight slower Copilot adoption as a near-term headwind — this drives mixed analyst commentary that can amplify intraday moves. Should You Buy Microsoft At $400?
• Neutral Sentiment: Market rumors (e.g., around Xbox) have prompted “rumor control” headlines; these are short-lived but can create volatility in sentiment-driven trading sessions. “Blank Check” For Xbox? Microsoft Stock Dips as Rumor Control Sets In
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sale: EVP Kathleen Hogan disclosed a multi-million-dollar sale of MSFT shares (12,321 shares), which investors often view as a modest negative signal on near-term insider conviction. SEC Form 4 — Kathleen T. Hogan sale
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and safety risk: a lawsuit alleging inadequate AI safety around Microsoft/OpenAI products and Anthropic’s legal fight with the Pentagon keep regulatory and litigation risk on investors’ radars, potentially increasing compliance costs or leading to restrictions. Anthropic sues to block Pentagon blacklisting

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $409.41 on Tuesday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $433.86 and its 200 day moving average is $478.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company 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).