Live Oak Investment Partners Trims Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Live Oak Investment Partners reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 50.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,390 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,512 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.3% of Live Oak Investment Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Live Oak Investment Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 165.5% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,928 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,142,000 after purchasing an additional 6,189 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Microsoft by 14.2% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 6,571 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,403,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,418,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 12,386 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,415,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 17,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,175,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $401.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $468.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $496.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $596.95.

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).