Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Holdings Decreased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,245,064 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 511,813 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.2% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.12% of Microsoft worth $4,788,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $389.00 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.08. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $448.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $485.89.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $392.00 price objective (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.95.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas / Microsoft discussion suggests OpenAI’s updated spending plan still benefits cloud providers — Microsoft weighed in on OpenAI and Anthropic during a BNP sit-down, with analysts framing OpenAI’s revised spending as a net positive for Microsoft’s Azure and AI services. Microsoft weighs in on OpenAI, Anthropic, and AI spending during BNP sit-down
• Positive Sentiment: Options-market bullish signal may attract short-term buying — an ultra-rare bullish technical/options setup was flagged by traders, drawing attention to potential tactical inflows into MSFT options/stock. Microsoft Stock Just Flashed an Ultra-Rare Bullish Signal for Options Traders
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink expands connectivity and enterprise reach — new Starlink collaboration supports Microsoft’s global access and Orbital AI initiatives, a strategic move to extend Azure/AI services into underserved regions. Microsoft and SpaceX’s Starlink partner on global community internet effort
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic partnerships ease fears that AI will displace software — Anthropic’s enterprise integrations (including plugins that work with Excel) have calmed some investor anxiety about AI eating traditional software revenue, indirectly supporting Microsoft’s ecosystem value. Anthropic eases software’s AI fears with enterprise partnerships
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox leadership change ties gaming to AI strategy — Phil Spencer’s retirement and Asha Sharma’s promotion from CoreAI signal Microsoft will lean gaming further into AI, which may be strategic long‑term but is execution dependent. Microsoft Ties Xbox Leadership To AI Cloud And Security Ambitions
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/industry notes: Evercore highlights Microsoft’s free cash flow resilience amid hyperscaler capex — a soothing data point versus peers even as capex rises. Microsoft stands out as lone Mag 7 hyperscaler to increase FCF during AI capex splurge: Evercore
• Negative Sentiment: High AI capex and valuation concerns keep pressure on shares — analysts and stories (including a deep-dive on Microsoft’s multibillion capex plans) continue to raise questions about timing and returns on massive data-center spending. Microsoft’s $83.09 Billion Decision Could Shape What Happens Next
• Negative Sentiment: Technicals signal risk — coverage highlights MSFT’s selloff approaching a long‑term support crossroads (200‑week), which could intensify volatility if broken. Microsoft’s selloff is approaching a critical crossroads unseen in over 10 years
• Negative Sentiment: Public criticism from investors (Michael Burry) claims aggressive accounting to understate AI costs — such headlines can ratchet short-term selling and heighten regulatory/market scrutiny. Michael Burry Warns MSFT, GOOG, META Are Using ‘Sinister’ Accounting To Hide AI Costs, Inflate Profits By 20%

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).