Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired Rep. Cleo Fields

Representative Cleo Fields (Democratic-Louisiana) recently bought shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). In a filing disclosed on March 17th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Microsoft stock on March 12th. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “MORGAN STANLEY – E*TRADE – FIELDS LAW FIRM 2, LLC” account.

Representative Cleo Fields also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) on 2/12/2026.
• Purchased $100,001 – $250,000 in shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) on 2/3/2026.
• Purchased $15,001 – $50,000 in shares of Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) on 2/3/2026.
• Purchased $100,001 – $250,000 in shares of Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) on 2/3/2026.
• Purchased $50,001 – $100,000 in shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) on 2/3/2026.
• Purchased $100,001 – $250,000 in shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) on 2/3/2026.
• Purchased $100,001 – $250,000 in shares of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) on 1/20/2026.
• Purchased $50,001 – $100,000 in shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) on 1/20/2026.
• Purchased $50,001 – $100,000 in shares of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) on 1/20/2026.
• Purchased $50,001 – $100,000 in shares of IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) on 1/20/2026.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $391.79 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $422.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $473.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 1.56 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company’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 earnings per share. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction 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 approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company unifies Copilot commercial and consumer teams to simplify product roadmaps and boost adoption — a move management says will improve coherence across enterprise and consumer experiences. Microsoft unifies Copilot commercial and consumer product teams in unit rejig (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Product updates expand Microsoft’s AI footprint (Copilot, Agent 365, Foundry ecosystem) — these releases and partnerships aim to drive enterprise spending and stickier Microsoft 365 monetization. Microsoft Expands AI Strategy with Copilot and Agent 365 Updates (Yahoo Finance)
• Positive Sentiment: Talent and product hires: Microsoft acquired the Cove team (AI collaboration board) and other engineering talent to accelerate collaboration features — a low-cost way to shore up product capabilities. Microsoft hires the team of Sequoia-backed AI collaboration platform, Cove (TechCrunch)
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership R&D: Microsoft Research collaborated with MediaTek on microLED-powered optical cables to improve data-center power efficiency — supports Azure infrastructure competitiveness. MediaTek Develops Active Optical Cable Technology with Microsoft Research (PR Newswire)
• Neutral Sentiment: Enterprise AI UX battle: Microsoft, Google and Anthropic are embedding AI into spreadsheets (Excel vs. Sheets), a trend that could expand enterprise AI use but raises competition and margin questions. Microsoft, Google and Anthropic Channel Enterprise AI Use With Spreadsheets (PYMNTS)
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: Microsoft is reportedly weighing legal action against Amazon and OpenAI over a reported $50B cloud deal — potential litigation and a deteriorating OpenAI relationship add strategic and execution risk for MSFT’s exclusive-cloud positioning. Microsoft weighs legal action over $50 billion Amazon-OpenAI cloud deal (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution concerns and leadership shuffle: Coverage noting product gaps (competition from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic) and the reassignment of Mustafa Suleyman have sparked debate about near-term AI competitiveness despite the broader reorg. That uncertainty is likely contributing to selling pressure. Microsoft reshuffles AI team to catch up on Copilot and model building (FT)

About Representative FIELDS

Cleo Fields (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Fields (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the primary scheduled on November 3, 2026.

Cleo Fields graduated from McKinley High School in 1980. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Southern University in 1984 and a J.D. from the Southern University Law Center in 1987. His career experience includes working as a state legislator and U.S. congressman. When Fields was elected to the Louisiana State Senate in 1986, he was the youngest person ever elected to the State Senate in Louisiana’s history. In 1995, Fields ran for governor of Louisiana, becoming the first African American since reconstruction to make the runoff.

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).