Citizens National Bank Trust Department Has $18.91 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Citizens National Bank Trust Department increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 36,514 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,181 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.4% of Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Chokshi & Queen Wealth Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chokshi & Queen Wealth Advisors Inc now owns 4,860 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 284,203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $147,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,027 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,927,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 353,683 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $183,252,000 after acquiring an additional 31,958 shares during the period. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,283 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 200 AI chip launch: Microsoft unveiled a second‑generation inference accelerator that management says cuts inference cost and power per query — a direct lever to improve Azure/Copilot margins as AI usage scales. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large data‑center approvals: Mount Pleasant, Wis., board approved plans for 15 additional data centers (multi‑billion dollar project); expands capacity to meet AI demand and supports long‑term Azure revenue growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cloud / AI momentum into earnings: Multiple previews highlight robust Azure growth and Copilot monetization as the primary upside drivers for revenue and guidance sensitivity. Investors expect management commentary on monetization and backlog. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market positioning ahead of Q2: Analysts and traders are pricing in a high‑expectations earnings event where forward guidance will likely matter more than the headline quarter. Watch capex/guidance language. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholder returns: Microsoft announced its first 2026 dividend payment date — supports income investors but has limited near‑term price impact vs. AI narrative. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst concern on margins/CAPEX: Stifel lowered its price target citing near‑term margin pressure from elevated AI spend; other firms have trimmed targets or reiterated caution ahead of guidance. That raises downside risk if management signals continued heavy spend. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Environmental & regulatory/ESG scrutiny: Reporting flags rising water use at AI data centers — a potential regulatory/community constraint and reputational risk that could affect future site approvals and costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/third‑party AI risk: A class action tied to an AI hiring tool used by Big Tech (including Microsoft customers) underscores litigation and compliance risks around AI deployments. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI set a $640.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Rothschild Redb cut Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $612.58.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $480.58 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $477.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $500.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

Microsoft Company 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).