Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Peterson Wealth Management

Peterson Wealth Management lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,443 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,178 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.4% of Peterson Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Peterson Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 500.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.87.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $381.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $418.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $472.02. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI tie-up is driving new customer wins and adoption of Microsoft AI products, supporting recurring revenue growth and Copilot monetization. How Microsoft’s (MSFT) OpenAI Partnership Is Bringing in a New Wave of Customers
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts point to an AI-fueled Azure surge and a large enterprise backlog (reported as a material competitive edge vs. peers like Adobe), supporting medium-term revenue upside. Microsoft vs. Adobe: Which Software Giant Has Better Upside Potential?
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partner activity (e.g., Accenture collaborations and ecosystem integrations) reinforces Microsoft’s position in enterprise security and AI services, which can deepen customer stickiness and drive incremental services revenue. Accenture Expands AI-Driven Cybersecurity Capabilities with Microsoft Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Traders and retail investors are seeing increased options activity and yield strategies (but these are tactical, not fundamental). Some traders propose structured trades (butterfly, income ETFs) to play the pullback. Transform Microsoft Stock Weakness Into A $1,700 Payoff With A Butterfly Trade
• Neutral Sentiment: Large-cap active ETFs continue to hold Microsoft as a core position, which can stabilize flows even during sell-offs (institutional ETF flows are a background influence on demand).
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI exclusivity appears at risk as OpenAI talks with Amazon, and reports say Microsoft is considering legal action — a potential breakdown of the partnership would materially weaken MSFT’s AI moat and Azure demand assumptions. Microsoft Weighs Legal Fight As OpenAI Amazon Talks Test Azure Edge
• Negative Sentiment: Policy/contract changes in local government dealings (NDAs and procurement) have been cited as a trigger for some municipal and public-sector deals to slow, which analysts say pressured the stock in intraday trading. No More NDAs: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slumps After Change in Local Government Dealings
• Negative Sentiment: Security incidents continue to create headlines: a U.S. agency urged firms to harden a Microsoft endpoint tool after the Stryker attack, and reports of SharePoint being used as an attack vector raise enterprise risk and potential remediation costs. These keep risk-premiums elevated for MSFT. US agency asks companies to secure Microsoft tool after Stryker cyberattack
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about rising infrastructure and AI compute costs that have pressured margins despite solid top-line beats; commentary that the stock has been “slammed” this year reflects worry about near-term margin compression and valuation re-rating. Microsoft Stock Has Been Absolutely Slammed This Year. Is It Finally Time to Buy?

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).