Country Trust Bank Has $221.72 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Country Trust Bank decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 428,064 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 22,500 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.9% of Country Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $221,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and notes highlighting Microsoft’s relatively durable free cash flow versus other hyperscalers are soothing investors worried about AI capex. Why Microsoft’s Cash Flow Sets It Apart from Other Hyperscalers
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s large, funded partner programs (notably the multibillion‑dollar IREN deal) are progressing — IREN secured financing and management says Microsoft prepayments/backing reduce execution risk for deploying AI capacity. That validates Microsoft’s ability to source external infrastructure without bearing all capex. IREN Earnings Were Ugly—Is a Beautiful Future Already Funded?
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional flows show some buyers stepping in (reported stake increases by managers), suggesting bargain hunting after the pullback. Manning & Napier Advisors boosts Microsoft stake
• Positive Sentiment: Government partnerships (UK deepfake detection) reinforce Microsoft’s regulatory/trust positioning for AI tools — a reputational plus that can support enterprise adoption. Britain to work with Microsoft to build deepfake detection system
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader hyperscaler capex is surging (reports of ~$700B combined spending), a structural trend that supports long‑term AI revenue but puts near‑term pressure on free cash flow across the group. Tech AI spending may approach $700 billion this year, but the blow to cash raises red flags
• Neutral Sentiment: Infrastructure market evolution (bitcoin miners pivoting to lease power to AI customers) creates more supplier options for Microsoft to scale capacity without owning all sites — strategic but execution‑dependent. The Great Pivot: Bitcoin Miners Are Becoming AI’s Landlords
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel’s rare downgrade (Hold) and analyst concern about Google/Anthropic competition for Azure weighed on sentiment earlier this week and triggered part of the sell‑off. Microsoft Stock Gets a Rare Downgrade. AI Competition Is Heating Up for Azure.
• Negative Sentiment: Specific execution worries — slower Copilot adoption and signs of softer Azure acceleration in the quarter — remain key risk points investors are watching; these were central to the post‑earnings sell‑off. Microsoft (MSFT) Stock: Should You Buy After 22% Plunge?
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/market psychology: an AI‑led rotation has erased large amounts of Big Tech market value, amplifying volatility for Microsoft even when fundamentals look mixed. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 target price (down from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $596.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $401.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. 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 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $468.42 and its 200-day moving average is $496.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

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).