Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Reduced by Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 122,258 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,017 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.2% of Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $63,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Arete Research increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $612.58.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $480.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $477.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $500.81. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS 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 company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.89%.

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.

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).