BankPlus Trust Department Raises Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Posted by ABMN Staff on Jan 9th, 2026

BankPlus Trust Department grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,819 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,001 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.1% of BankPlus Trust Department’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. BankPlus Trust Department’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NovaPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 27,910 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.4% during the third quarter. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,579 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,069,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 153,584 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $79,549,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.1% during the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 31,417 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,272,000 after buying an additional 2,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 83,743 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,844,000 after buying an additional 3,922 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $478.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $488.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $503.66.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: Major analyst support remains intact — Jefferies reiterated a Buy on MSFT with a $675 target, and other firms (Wedbush, Scotiabank) continue positive stances, reinforcing a bullish long-term AI/cloud story. Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI Strategy Reinforces Its Position as a Long-Term Winner, Analyst Says
Positive Sentiment: New commercial partnerships extend Copilot/Azure monetization paths — PayPal will power checkout in Copilot and Fiserv has an AI partnership to embed Microsoft tech, both help drive direct revenue/usage for Copilot and Azure. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
Positive Sentiment: Product momentum and enterprise demand remain strong — reporting around robust Azure demand, agentic AI tools for retail, and new robotics/automation partnerships that expand Azure’s TAM. These support revenue visibility and margin recovery as AI deployments scale. Microsoft Unleashes Agentic AI To Automate Every Corner Of Retail
Neutral Sentiment: EU digital-rule update reportedly spares big tech from the strictest measures — less regulatory tightening would be neutral-to-positive for MSFT but it’s a policy development to monitor. Exclusive: Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul, sources say
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst price-target consensus points to sizable upside (~30% mean) and multiple firms flag MSFT as a top AI play — bullish medium-term context but not an immediate catalyst. Wall Street Analysts Predict a 30.32% Upside in Microsoft (MSFT)
Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings and corporate cadence — Microsoft announced its quarterly earnings date; previews suggest continued double‑digit growth expectations, making the report a potential near-term catalyst. Microsoft announces quarterly-earnings release date
Negative Sentiment: Layoff rumors and cost worries have circulated (reports of thousands of cuts); Microsoft publicly pushed back calling some figures “100 percent made up,” but the rumor flow can pressure sentiment and drive short-term selling. “100 Percent Made Up”: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slips in Response to Layoff Rumors
Negative Sentiment: Local opposition to a proposed data center in Michigan and broader community pushback could create PR/headwind risks and slow site builds — timing/permits matter for capacity expansion plans. Microsoft revealed as company behind controversial data center proposal in Michigan township
Negative Sentiment: Legal exposure around OpenAI (lawsuit allowed to proceed to trial) is a reputational/legal risk given Microsoft’s close ties and investments in OpenAI. Elon Musk’s lawsuit accusing ChatGPT-maker OpenAI Of Betraying Its Nonprofit Mission Can Go To Trial, Judge Rules

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim set a $675.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $632.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $630.11.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT

About Microsoft

(Free Report)

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).