Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 72,243 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,331 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.0% of Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vision Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,030 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,611,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 70,992 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,770,000 after purchasing an additional 11,797 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 69,373 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,931,000 after purchasing an additional 5,686 shares during the period. Atwater Malick LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 9.4% during the third quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 21,625 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 27.1% during the third quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 62,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,482,000 after purchasing an additional 13,389 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Redburn Partners set a $450.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $665.00 to $630.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $480.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $477.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $500.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

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.

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).