Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by LS Investment Advisors LLC

LS Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 79,914 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,380 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.8% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $41,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Wellington Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the second quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,816,000 after buying an additional 2,373 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $457,119,000 after buying an additional 33,382 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 14.0% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.3% in the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $624.05.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $444.11 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $480.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $501.75. The company has a market cap of $3.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during 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 was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 payout ratio is 25.89%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major industry and healthcare partnerships bolster MSFT’s commercial AI narrative — Bristol Myers Squibb will use Microsoft’s AI radiology tools to speed lung cancer detection, a commercial validation for Azure/AI revenue mix. Bristol Myers partners with Microsoft for AI-driven lung cancer detection
• Positive Sentiment: Enterprise product integration: Board announced Board Agents built on Microsoft Foundry, signaling more platform-level demand for Azure agentic AI services. Board Collaborates with Microsoft to Bring Agentic AI Into the Core of Enterprise Planning
• Positive Sentiment: Marketplace and ISV ecosystem wins continue to expand commercial reach (Cobalt Teams integration, RKON Marketplace activity), supporting recurring revenue and GTM leverage. Cobalt Microsoft® Teams® Integration Now Available in the Microsoft Marketplace®
• Positive Sentiment: Top analysts still see long-term upside — Goldman Sachs reiterated Buy and keeps a high price target, reflecting belief that AI + cloud growth offsets higher power/capex. Microsoft: Maintaining a Buy Rating as AI and Cloud Growth Offset Structurally Higher Power Costs
• Neutral Sentiment: TD Cowen trimmed its price target (from $655 to $625) but kept a Buy rating, noting Azure capacity constraints that may keep the stock range-bound before earnings. TD Cowen Sees Microsoft (MSFT) Shares Range-Bound Ahead of Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on MSFT’s upcoming earnings report on Jan. 28 — expectations are elevated, so results and commentary on Azure capacity/costs will likely drive near-term volatility. Dear Microsoft Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for January 28
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades/price-target cuts are weighing on sentiment — Rothschild & Co Redburn cut its PT to $450 and moved to Neutral, tightening near-term upside assumptions. Rothschild & Co Redburn adjusts price target on Microsoft to 450 from 500, maintains neutral rating
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella’s public warnings that AI could “lose social permission” if it burns energy without real-world benefits have raised regulatory/PR risk and highlighted rising energy/capex pressures for hyperscalers. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Warns AI Could Lose ‘Social Permission’ If It Burns Energy Without Real-World Benefits In Health And Education
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Azure growth and forward guidance previously fell short of expectations — plus capacity constraints — are pressuring near-term growth multiple assumptions. Microsoft (MSFT) Traded Lower as Its Reported Azure Cloud Growth and Forward Guidance Fell Short of Expectations

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).