Donaldson Capital Management LLC Sells 2,421 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Donaldson Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 274,842 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,421 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.2% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $132,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 26,388 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,762,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,258 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,535,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 1,231 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Praetorian Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Praetorian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,087 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 4,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and bullish price targets. Several broker notes this week reiterated buy ratings and raised 12‑month targets (Goldman/others), supporting the view of material upside from current levels. Zacks upgrade to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Partner and ecosystem wins that expand Copilot/Cloud reach. eGain launched connectors that integrate Microsoft Copilot and other major models into enterprise workflows — a sign that partners are embedding Copilot into enterprise stacks, helping long‑term monetization. eGain Copilot connectors
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic momentum benefits MSFT as an investor/partner. Jefferies reports Anthropic crossing ~$30B ARR — a development that strengthens the broader AI ecosystem in which Microsoft is strategically invested. That bolsters long‑term cloud/AI demand. Anthropic ARR report
• Positive Sentiment: Environmental/community actions on data centers. Microsoft pledged not to hike local water/electricity bills for Canadian data‑centre builds and signed a Canadian BECCS carbon removal deal — steps that reduce local opposition and regulatory risk to its AI cloud expansion. Canada data centre vow Carbon removal / Svante
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed market narratives: valuation debate and buy‑the‑dip themes. Coverage ranges from “unloved but not broken” theses to calls that MSFT is a rare high‑quality stock trading at a discount; these narratives create volatility but not a single directional catalyst. Seeking Alpha take
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical risk and physical threats to AI infrastructure. Iran/IRGC threats to major AI projects and headlines tying regional conflict to tech infrastructure have pushed risk premia higher for big cloud/AI players, weighing on MSFT. IRGC/Stargate threats
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term investor concern about AI capex and Copilot traction. Social and trade commentary highlight rising AI infrastructure costs, slower‑than‑expected Copilot revenue cadence, and a big capex plan that leaves investors questioning timing of returns — primary drivers of the recent multiple compression. AI capex concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Product/consumer headlines can dent sentiment. Smaller items — Xbox Game Pass lineup reactions and periodic “downtrend” technical commentary — contribute to short‑term selling pressure even when fundamentals remain intact. Xbox Game Pass news

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Melius Research set a $430.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.97.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $372.29 on Wednesday. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $350.25 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $396.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $460.30. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 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).