Clarius Group LLC Cuts Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Clarius Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 315,797 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,230 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 8.7% of Clarius Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $152,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IRON Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,372,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $9,941,000. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,347,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,499,000 after buying an additional 2,247 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5%

Microsoft stock opened at $374.33 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $394.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $459.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $353.10 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analyst support and bullish research are drawing buyers — major firms (including Goldman and other brokers) are highlighting MSFT as a rebound candidate and publishing price targets well above current levels, which helps underpin today’s rally. Goldman sees rebound for Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Product and partnership catalysts: Microsoft’s Agent 365 platform is moving to GA with launch partners (supporting enterprise governance for AI agents), and the company is expanding commercial AI tie-ups — tangible signs of enterprise monetization for Copilot/agent products. Reply selected as Microsoft Agent 365 launch partner
• Positive Sentiment: Consumer/PR boost from gaming: fresh details on Forza Horizon 6 and other Xbox updates have driven short‑term positive momentum for MSFT shares tied to Xbox/Xbox Game Pass engagement. Forza Horizon 6 details lift MSFT stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings schedule set — Microsoft will report FY2026 Q3 after the close on April 29; the date focuses attention on Azure growth, backlog metrics and free‑cash‑flow cadence at month‑end. Quarterly earnings release date announced
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner/partner‑ecosystem wins (Azure specializations, platform connectors) keep enterprise pipeline healthy but are incremental to revenue near term. Centrilogic earns Azure specialization
• Negative Sentiment: Executive turnover: another senior departure and the planned retirement of longtime exec Julia Liuson raise governance and continuity questions for developer tools and platform strategy; exits can sap sentiment until leadership transitions settle. Julia Liuson to retire Another senior departure at Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: AI capex and Copilot adoption concerns continue to weigh: investors remain worried about rising infrastructure spend, slower-than-expected Copilot monetization and whether those costs will compress near‑term margins. That narrative has driven much of the stock’s recent re‑rating. Why MSFT stock has been shredded
• Negative Sentiment: Security and legal noise: reports of a developer account lock affecting VeraCrypt updates and an amended lawsuit filing referencing Microsoft add episodic risk that can amplify short‑term volatility. VeraCrypt account termination / Windows update disruption reports

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. New Street Research increased their price target on Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $588.97.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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).