Diversified Trust Co Grows Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 232,325 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 16,569 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.4% of Diversified Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $120,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clark Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.0% in the third quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 19,716 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,212,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the period. Squire Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Squire Investment Management Company LLC now owns 820 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Planning Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,227 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,369,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 11.5% during the third quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 38,178 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,774,000 after purchasing an additional 3,950 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Rothschild Redb lowered shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.03.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $483.63 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $489.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $503.84.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.89%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank reaffirmed a Buy rating on Microsoft, which supports investor confidence and can buoy the stock ahead of results. Scotiabank Keeps Their Buy Rating on Microsoft (MSFT)
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic is pursuing a huge new funding round (reportedly $10B at a ~$350B valuation) separate from the $15B pledges by Nvidia and Microsoft — this underscores MSFT’s deepening strategic exposure to big AI winners and supports long-term AI upside. Anthropic Aims to Nearly Double Valuation in New Funding Round
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI (Microsoft-backed) launched ChatGPT Health, expanding AI use cases into healthcare — a high-value, enterprise-facing market that can drive Azure usage and product stickiness. OpenAI Pushes Deeper into Health Care with New ChatGPT Health Feature
• Positive Sentiment: Copilot’s high‑profile placement (calls tied to Super Bowl 60) and a new Azure-powered deal with Hexagon for humanoid factory robots deliver positive PR and concrete enterprise use cases that can help user/adoption metrics. Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Jumps as Copilot Calls Super Bowl 60 Microsoft, Hexagon Put Humanoid Robots On Factory Floors
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft set its quarterly earnings release date — an upcoming report is a direct catalyst that often increases trading volume and volatility as investors position around Azure/Copilot results. Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date
• Neutral Sentiment: Large option trades (“market whales”) were active in MSFT — heavy option flow can amplify intraday moves but is ambiguous on direction until positions are netted out. Market Whales and Their Recent Bets on MSFT Options
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage debate over valuation — several pieces (Forbes, valuation analyses) argue Microsoft may be expensive at current multiples, which can limit upside and encourage profit‑taking despite strong fundamentals. Is Microsoft Stock Expensive?
• Negative Sentiment: Repeated media reports and rumors that Microsoft is planning thousands of job cuts (estimates vary widely) create near‑term uncertainty and headline risk; while cuts could boost margins later, they typically pressure sentiment on the news. Microsoft (MSFT) Is Rumored to Be Planning Thousands of Job Cuts as AI Spending Accelerates
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about gaming market stagnation and AI’s impact on game development raised in industry pieces could weigh on Xbox/consumer-revenue sentiment for investors focused on that segment. 2025’s Most Popular Games Raise Concerns for Sony, Microsoft (MSFT) & Nintendo (NTDOF)

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).