Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Riverwater Partners LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 27.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,016 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,496 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,108 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,536,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 1,276 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi reiterated a Buy on Microsoft, highlighting continued Copilot adoption and strong Azure growth as reasons the company can outpace the recent sell-off. Microsoft in focus as Citi reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares (~$2M), a behavioral vote of confidence that can help stabilize sentiment among retail/institutional investors. Microsoft Director John Stanton Buys 5,000 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s extended OpenAI revenue arrangement (locking a meaningful share of OpenAI output through 2032) is a multi-year revenue and strategic moat tailwind for AI monetization. As Microsoft extends 20% OpenAI deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced a large long-term commitment to expand AI access in the Global South (reported ~$50B), a growth opportunity that also implies heavy multi-year capex and execution risk. Microsoft to invest $50B in Global South AI push
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships and marketplace traction (e.g., CrowdStrike on Microsoft Marketplace) reinforce enterprise ecosystem stickiness but have limited immediate revenue impact. Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership change in gaming: Phil Spencer’s immediate retirement and replacement by Asha Sharma introduces near-term uncertainty for Xbox strategy and investor confidence in the gaming unit. Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer retires
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel downgraded MSFT (Buy→Hold) and cut its price target, citing Azure supply constraints as a near-term growth headwind — a concrete analyst call that can pressure flows and justify further volatility. Stifel flags Azure supply constraints
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh AI quality/security reports (Copilot/Office bug and “AI recommendation poisoning” threats) raise short-term adoption and reputational risk that could delay enterprise deployments and weigh on sentiment. AI recommendation poisoning concerns

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $397.23 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $452.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $488.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $660.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Arete Research increased their price target on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

About Microsoft

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).