Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Lowered by Canal Insurance CO

Canal Insurance CO trimmed its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.8% of Canal Insurance CO’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Canal Insurance CO’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 71.2% in the third quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank cut their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price target (down previously from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $597.73.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Microsoft News

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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $411.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $473.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $498.30. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors 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 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Microsoft 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).