Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Cut by Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,089 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,580 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.5% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after buying an additional 13,691,572 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532,054 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $399.60 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $455.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $489.92. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.08. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Evercore decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Arete Research upped their price objective on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft 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 four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft secured a deal to lock in a 20% share of OpenAI’s revenue through 2032 — a material, long-duration cash-flow stream that reinforces MSFT’s strategic AI partnership and upside if OpenAI monetizes broadly. Microsoft Locks In 20% Of OpenAI’s Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 MSFT shares, signaling management confidence and giving investors a modest behavioral vote of confidence. Insider Purchase: Director at $MSFT Buys 5,000 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reaffirmed its renewable-energy commitments—continuing to match its electricity needs with clean power as it scales data-center capacity, which reduces regulatory/ESG risk for long-term investors. Microsoft to keep buying renewable energy to match electricity needs
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street interest: notes calling Microsoft “under-owned” and continued buy/overweight ratings (and a median price target well above current levels) provide conviction for inflows from institutional investors. Morgan Stanley: Microsoft is under-owned
• Neutral Sentiment: Global growth push: Microsoft says it’s on pace to invest ~$50B in AI across the “Global South” through 2030 — a major long-term market expansion that could drive growth but also requires heavy up-front capex and multi-year execution. Microsoft $50B Global South AI push
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships/marketplace traction: CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform is now on Microsoft Marketplace, easing procurement for customers and reinforcing MSFT’s enterprise security ecosystem (incremental revenue/ stickiness but limited immediate top-line impact). Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: AI risks and bugs: reports of a Copilot/Office bug and new “AI recommendation poisoning” threats have raised short-term security and quality concerns around Microsoft’s AI products, which can pressure enterprise adoption sentiment. New AI-Related Bug Does Not Dampen Microsoft Stock AI Recommendation Poisoning
• Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation and spending concerns: some funds are trimming MSFT amid worries that aggressive AI infrastructure and capex could weigh near-term margins — paired with downgrades and headlines about investor selling that create volatility. Investors Dump Microsoft Shares Melius Research Downgrades Microsoft

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).