Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC Sells 33,279 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 408,678 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 33,279 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.3% of Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Locust Wood Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $211,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second 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 period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

MSFT opened at $401.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $460.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $492.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major private-market validation for the AI ecosystem could benefit Microsoft as a cloud and AI infrastructure provider — Anthropic’s new $380B valuation (which includes investments tied to Microsoft) signals strong enterprise demand for AI models and likely more backend cloud consumption. Anthropic Valuation Hits $380 Billion as Enterprise AI Demand Explodes
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reaffirmed a Buy on MSFT with a $635 price target — a bullish institutional view that supports the long‑term AI/cloud thesis despite recent sentiment-driven weakness. Microsoft: Buy Rating Reaffirmed on Undervalued AI and Cloud Growth Drivers Despite Sentiment-Driven Sell-Off
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is leading industry efforts on “digital trust” with other large tech firms (Trusted Tech Alliance), a reputational win that may ease enterprise sales cycles for security‑sensitive customers. Microsoft, Ericsson lead global tech alliance for digital trust
• Positive Sentiment: R&D/infra innovation: reports that Microsoft is exploring superconducting power lines for AI data centers point to potential long‑term efficiency gains and differentiation for its hyperscale buildout. Microsoft Explores Superconducting Power to Boost AI Data Centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft AI chief’s bold timeline for rapid white‑collar automation (12–18 months) fuels debate — it underscores market opportunity but also raises labor/regulatory concerns that could shape adoption rates. Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months — for all white-collar work to be automated by AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Market technicians and contrarian pieces argue MSFT looks oversold/potentially bottoming after the post‑earnings drop — these narratives can attract buyers, but timing is uncertain. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Price Forecast: Bottoming at Channel Support?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk increased today: the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has issued investigative demands and questioned Microsoft’s rivals about its AI/cloud licensing and business practices — this escalation is a clear near‑term negative catalyst. US FTC ramps up scrutiny of Microsoft over AI, cloud practices, questions rivals, Bloomberg reports
• Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation and positioning: several funds disclosed cuts to MSFT stakes this week, and commentary highlights investor concern over heavy CapEx for AI infrastructure and concentration risk tied to OpenAI—factors that have pressured the stock. PRIMECAP Management Co cuts Microsoft stake by 1.1M
• Negative Sentiment: Critics argue Microsoft has underperformed some AI peers and that capex intensity may strain free cash flow, reinforcing sentiment‑driven selling pressure. Microsoft Is Spending, Investors Are Losing

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% 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 corporate insiders.

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).