GWN Securities Inc. Cuts Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

GWN Securities Inc. cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 50.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,855 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 14,157 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.7% of GWN Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. GWN Securities Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 104.4% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 56,531 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,280,000 after buying an additional 28,875 shares during the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 204,701 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $106,025,000 after acquiring an additional 6,150 shares in the last quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,545 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the last quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.6% during the third quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,539 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,905,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, VanderPol Investments L.L.C. boosted its position in Microsoft by 8.4% during the third quarter. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. now owns 1,892 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $991,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management moves to accelerate AI sales — Microsoft promoted commercial sales leaders to shorten the customer feedback loop and speed enterprise AI adoption, which may help convert AI investments into revenue faster. Microsoft promotes sales leaders as company pursues AI growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and upgrades — Some brokers have reiterated buy/strong‑buy ratings and high price targets after the quarter, arguing the pullback presents a long‑term buying opportunity. That institutional backing can cushion further downside. Phillip Securities upgrade via Zacks
• Positive Sentiment: Product roadmap: Maia chip and AI cloud positioning — Microsoft is highlighting new AI hardware (Maia chip) and cloud AI capability expansion, reinforcing its competitive positioning in the AI stack. If deployments monetize, this supports longer‑term growth. Microsoft highlights Maia chip launch
• Neutral Sentiment: Hardware cycle signal — Market signals (e.g., SanDisk strength) point to an edge AI hardware refresh that benefits OEMs and infrastructure suppliers; Microsoft could benefit indirectly via Azure demand but the primary winners may be hardware vendors. The AI in a Box Trade: Hardware Is the Next Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: AI ecosystem deals highlight secular demand — Large partnerships in the cloud/AI space (e.g., Snowflake + OpenAI) validate ongoing enterprise AI spend, which is a positive structural tailwind for Microsoft’s cloud services even if near‑term economics are under pressure. Snowflake’s $200M Bet: Can The OpenAI Deal Fix the Slump?
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings reaction: growth vs. spending worries — Analysts and investors punished the stock after results: revenue/earnings beat but Azure growth cooled and management signaled heavy AI capex, raising concerns that spending will weigh on near‑term margins and guidance. That is the primary driver of today’s decline. Here’s Why Microsoft Fell After Earnings, Despite Beating Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/regulatory risk in Europe — France and other European actors pushing native alternatives to Teams/Zoom underscore digital‑sovereignty headwinds that could slow enterprise adoption or create regional revenue pressure over time. France ditches Zoom and Teams for homegrown system
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target trims and insider selling amplify caution — Some firms trimmed targets and public filings show material insider sales; combined with high volume selling, this reinforces near‑term downward pressure despite long‑term bull cases. Analysts Cut Microsoft (MSFT) Price Targets

Microsoft Trading Down 2.9%

Microsoft stock opened at $411.21 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $473.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $498.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Rothschild Redb lowered shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price objective (down previously from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $597.73.

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).