Great Point Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Great Point Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 10,551 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $5,465,000. Microsoft makes up about 1.0% of Great Point Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 155.7% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and notes highlighting Microsoft’s relatively durable free cash flow versus other hyperscalers are soothing investors worried about AI capex. Why Microsoft’s Cash Flow Sets It Apart from Other Hyperscalers
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s large, funded partner programs (notably the multibillion‑dollar IREN deal) are progressing — IREN secured financing and management says Microsoft prepayments/backing reduce execution risk for deploying AI capacity. That validates Microsoft’s ability to source external infrastructure without bearing all capex. IREN Earnings Were Ugly—Is a Beautiful Future Already Funded?
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional flows show some buyers stepping in (reported stake increases by managers), suggesting bargain hunting after the pullback. Manning & Napier Advisors boosts Microsoft stake
• Positive Sentiment: Government partnerships (UK deepfake detection) reinforce Microsoft’s regulatory/trust positioning for AI tools — a reputational plus that can support enterprise adoption. Britain to work with Microsoft to build deepfake detection system
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader hyperscaler capex is surging (reports of ~$700B combined spending), a structural trend that supports long‑term AI revenue but puts near‑term pressure on free cash flow across the group. Tech AI spending may approach $700 billion this year, but the blow to cash raises red flags
• Neutral Sentiment: Infrastructure market evolution (bitcoin miners pivoting to lease power to AI customers) creates more supplier options for Microsoft to scale capacity without owning all sites — strategic but execution‑dependent. The Great Pivot: Bitcoin Miners Are Becoming AI’s Landlords
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel’s rare downgrade (Hold) and analyst concern about Google/Anthropic competition for Azure weighed on sentiment earlier this week and triggered part of the sell‑off. Microsoft Stock Gets a Rare Downgrade. AI Competition Is Heating Up for Azure.
• Negative Sentiment: Specific execution worries — slower Copilot adoption and signs of softer Azure acceleration in the quarter — remain key risk points investors are watching; these were central to the post‑earnings sell‑off. Microsoft (MSFT) Stock: Should You Buy After 22% Plunge?
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/market psychology: an AI‑led rotation has erased large amounts of Big Tech market value, amplifying volatility for Microsoft even when fundamentals look mixed. Big Tech sees over $1 trillion wiped from stocks as fears of AI bubble ignite sell-off

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 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. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the 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 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $401.14 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $468.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $496.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities 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 issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 target price (down previously from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, New Street Research increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $596.95.

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).