Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,175 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.3% of Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $588.97.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large Asia infrastructure commitments: Microsoft said it will invest about $5.5B in Singapore and $1B in Thailand to build cloud and AI data‑center capacity, strengthening long‑term revenue visibility for Azure and enterprise AI services. WSJ: Microsoft Plans to Invest $5.5 Billion in Singapore
• Positive Sentiment: Energy supply de‑risking for AI buildout: Microsoft entered an exclusivity deal with Chevron and Engine No. 1 to explore a ~2.5GW (potentially 5GW) gas‑powered complex in West Texas to power large data centers — a strategic move to secure power and reduce one key constraint on AI scaling. Reuters: Microsoft, Chevron and Engine No. 1 sign exclusive deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing and higher targets: Multiple firms initiated or raised coverage (Benchmark buy initiation, New Street target hike and other bullish notes), keeping a majority of analysts constructive and implying significant upside from current levels. This institutional support can cushion near‑term downside. Yahoo Finance: What Do Analysts Say About Microsoft?
• Neutral Sentiment: Governance and safety moves: Microsoft unveiled new AI tools (a “Critique and Council” approach) aimed at improving model oversight and trust — helpful for long‑term adoption but unlikely to move near‑term revenue. Yahoo: Microsoft Just Unveiled New AI Tools
• Neutral Sentiment: Org restructure for AI: Microsoft reshuffled its AI org to consolidate go‑to‑market and product execution — a long‑term constructive step but with execution risk during the transition. Fool: Microsoft Reshuffled Its Entire AI Organization
• Negative Sentiment: Weak quarterly reaction and ROI concerns: Investors punished the stock after Q1, calling out elevated capex for AI, slower Copilot adoption and uncertainty over the return on massive infrastructure spending — the core reason for the recent pullback. CNBC: Microsoft closes worst quarter since 2008
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/competition risk: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has launched a probe into Microsoft’s business‑software ecosystem and cloud licensing, adding litigation and regulatory overhang. Reuters: UK to launch antitrust probe into Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and sentiment pressures: The stock recently breached its 200‑week moving average and suffered heavy dip selling; social‑media and technical chatter is amplifying downside risk in the short term. Insider sales are also noted in public filings. QuiverQuant: Opinions on Breaching 200‑Week Moving Average

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $369.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $404.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $464.55.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

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).