Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s 4th Largest Position

Marathon Asset Management Ltd decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 184,741 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 45,058 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.5% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $95,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $50,493,678,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $18,733,827,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 13,691,572 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $630.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.11.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $479.28 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $488.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $503.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Office 365 subscription growth is accelerating (commercial + consumer uptake, higher-tier migration and AI features boosting revenue per user), which supports recurring revenue and margin resilience. MSFT’s Office 365 Subscription Growth Picks Up
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched agentic AI solutions for retailers (automation across merchandising, store ops and fulfillment) — expands monetization avenues for Azure/Copilot in commerce. Microsoft Introduces Agentic AI Solutions for Retailers
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal will power Copilot Checkout flows, a partnership that helps drive payments volume inside Microsoft’s Copilot ecosystem and could lift monetization of consumer workflows. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Prominent commentators and analysts remain constructive — Jim Cramer voiced continued confidence in Microsoft, and firms (Wedbush/Jefferies/Scotiabank coverage) reiterate upside tied to Azure/AI momentum. These endorsements support investor sentiment. Jim Cramer Says “Going Forward, I Still Feel Pretty Good About Microsoft”
• Neutral Sentiment: EU digital rule overhaul reportedly won’t impose heavy-handed restrictions on big tech — reduces a regulatory overhang but is broadly industry-wide news. Big Tech spared strict rules in EU digital rule overhaul
• Negative Sentiment: Reports say AI‑capable PC sales came in below expectations, denting the near‑term hardware/AI upgrade narrative that had been a tailwind for Microsoft’s Windows/partner ecosystem. “AI Confuses Them More Than it Helps…”: Microsoft Stock Slips as AI PC Sales Less Than Expected
• Negative Sentiment: Rumors of large job cuts circulated (company communications called the figures inaccurate), creating headline risk around rising AI costs and cost‑base adjustments. Short-term volatility can follow such reports even when later denied. “100 Percent Made Up”: Microsoft Stock Slips in Response to Layoff Rumors
• Negative Sentiment: Local opposition emerged after Microsoft was identified as the developer behind a contentious Michigan data‑center proposal — potential permitting delays and PR drag. Microsoft behind controversial data center proposal in Michigan

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).