Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Boosted by Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 214,069 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,369 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.6% of Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $103,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. BLVD Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 1,276 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. raised its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft pledged a major strategic buildout in Japan — a $10 billion, multi‑year plan to fund AI data centers, cybersecurity and workforce training with partners including SoftBank and Sakura Internet, underpinning long‑term cloud/A.I. revenue opportunities and local partnerships. Microsoft to invest $10 billion in Japan for AI and cyber defence expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft rolled out multiple proprietary AI models and signaled it will build frontier models in‑house — a strategic shift to reduce dependence on partners and capture more of the AI stack (product control, margins and IP). This supports the long‑term AI revenue thesis. Microsoft building its own high-powered AI models as it looks to slash dependence on OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Management says Copilot sales targets were met after changing the go‑to‑market approach (moving to paid/subscription rather than broad bundling), a sign of product monetization gaining traction. That helps offset concerns about adoption. Microsoft hits Copilot sales goals after strategy shift – Bloomberg
• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark initiated coverage / and some street notes raised targets (coverage and a $675 price target were reported), providing analyst support that could lift sentiment if follow‑through occurs. Microsoft Charts $10 Billion of Outlays in AI-Eager Japan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced local partnerships and community programs (e.g., Victoria University datacenter academy) that support talent pipeline and social license for datacenter expansion — constructive but longer‑dated impact. Microsoft Corp (MSFT) Partners with Victoria University on Datacenter Community Pledge
• Neutral Sentiment: Smaller ecosystem developments (Sakura Internet confirming talks, local partners’ stock moves) amplify the Japan story but are execution‑dependent; useful context for investors tracking regional rollout. SAKURA Internet Confirms Exploratory AI Cloud Collaboration Talks With Microsoft Japan
• Negative Sentiment: Recent quarterly performance and commentary have disappointed some investors — headlines describe a Q1 “slide” and the worst quarterly drop since 2008 for MSFT, feeding the narrative of short‑term weakness and valuation re‑rating. That continues to pressure the stock. After Microsoft’s Q1 Slide, Are the Bulls Still On Board?
• Negative Sentiment: Several large funds / billionaires have trimmed MSFT positions in recent 13F disclosures (D.E. Shaw, Steve Cohen, Dan Loeb), signaling some institutional profit‑taking amid concerns over cloud supply constraints and guidance — a headwind for near‑term flows. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Billionaire Steve Cohen Trims Position
• Negative Sentiment: Security/product risks surfaced (reports on “AI recommendation poisoning”) and ongoing execution demands for in‑house frontier models add operational risk and could temper upside if issues emerge. AI Recommendation Poisoning: Why Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Is Fighting So Hard

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $373.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $400.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $462.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 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 firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HSBC decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $588.97.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents 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 company insiders.

Microsoft 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).