Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 905,408 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 23,021 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 6.4% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $468,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $401.32 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $458.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $491.45. 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 twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. New Street Research raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $641.00 target price (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $392.00 price objective (down previously from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its sustainability leadership with two multi‑year carbon removal purchase deals totaling nearly 3 million tonnes, which bolsters ESG credentials and may support institutional demand from ESG‑focused investors. Microsoft Kicks Off 2026 With Flurry Of Large-Scale Carbon Removal Purchase Deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media continue to list Microsoft among top AI investment plays (alongside Nvidia & Alphabet), reinforcing long‑term demand narratives for Azure and Copilot products. This supports the stock’s growth story even amid short‑term volatility. Best AI Stocks 2026: NVIDIA, Microsoft, Alphabet Top the List
• Positive Sentiment: Large ETFs (including Vanguard funds) are positioned to capture the AI boom and include Microsoft, which can keep steady passive inflows into MSFT if AI optimism returns. 3 Vanguard ETFs Riding the AI Boom with Nvidia, Microsoft, and Tech Giants
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/market commentary sees potential post‑holiday recovery setups for major tech names, including MSFT, which is more a trading observation than a fundamentals change. MSFT, GOOG and AMZN Forecast – Major Tech Stocks Looking to Recover After President’s Day
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent hedge fund activity is mixed — some managers trimmed MSFT while others added to positions — indicating divergent institutional views but no clear one‑way pressure yet. (Examples include Sands Capital trimming and Maverick/Soros adding.) Sands Capital Management Trims Microsoft Stake, Sells 394,869 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Market anxiety from OpenAI’s large compute/backlog pledge has rippled to cloud partners; headlines suggest Oracle, Microsoft and Broadcom shares were hit on fears of elevated AI compute costs and margin pressure. OpenAI Backlog Shockwave: Are Investors Punishing Oracle, Microsoft And Broadcom Over Altman’s Trillion-Dollar Compute Bet?
• Negative Sentiment: Investor disappointment persists around Microsoft’s recent quarter: while results were broadly solid, several writeups note the company “fell short of expectations” on some metrics and that Copilot paying‑customer counts were smaller than hoped — factors driving short‑term selling. Investors Are Selling This AI Stock, but Is It Actually a Screaming Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: Additional hedge‑fund stake reductions (e.g., Altarock’s large cut) add to near‑term selling pressure and reflect some managers de‑risking amid the broader software/AI pullback. Altarock Partners Cuts Massive 486,910‑Share Microsoft Stake

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).