Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 63,764 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,071 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.6% of Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $401.32 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $458.94 and its 200 day moving average is $491.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. 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 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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. The business 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 was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its sustainability leadership with two multi‑year carbon removal purchase deals totaling nearly 3 million tonnes, which bolsters ESG credentials and may support institutional demand from ESG‑focused investors. Microsoft Kicks Off 2026 With Flurry Of Large-Scale Carbon Removal Purchase Deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media continue to list Microsoft among top AI investment plays (alongside Nvidia & Alphabet), reinforcing long‑term demand narratives for Azure and Copilot products. This supports the stock’s growth story even amid short‑term volatility. Best AI Stocks 2026: NVIDIA, Microsoft, Alphabet Top the List
• Positive Sentiment: Large ETFs (including Vanguard funds) are positioned to capture the AI boom and include Microsoft, which can keep steady passive inflows into MSFT if AI optimism returns. 3 Vanguard ETFs Riding the AI Boom with Nvidia, Microsoft, and Tech Giants
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/market commentary sees potential post‑holiday recovery setups for major tech names, including MSFT, which is more a trading observation than a fundamentals change. MSFT, GOOG and AMZN Forecast – Major Tech Stocks Looking to Recover After President’s Day
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent hedge fund activity is mixed — some managers trimmed MSFT while others added to positions — indicating divergent institutional views but no clear one‑way pressure yet. (Examples include Sands Capital trimming and Maverick/Soros adding.) Sands Capital Management Trims Microsoft Stake, Sells 394,869 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Market anxiety from OpenAI’s large compute/backlog pledge has rippled to cloud partners; headlines suggest Oracle, Microsoft and Broadcom shares were hit on fears of elevated AI compute costs and margin pressure. OpenAI Backlog Shockwave: Are Investors Punishing Oracle, Microsoft And Broadcom Over Altman’s Trillion-Dollar Compute Bet?
• Negative Sentiment: Investor disappointment persists around Microsoft’s recent quarter: while results were broadly solid, several writeups note the company “fell short of expectations” on some metrics and that Copilot paying‑customer counts were smaller than hoped — factors driving short‑term selling. Investors Are Selling This AI Stock, but Is It Actually a Screaming Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: Additional hedge‑fund stake reductions (e.g., Altarock’s large cut) add to near‑term selling pressure and reflect some managers de‑risking amid the broader software/AI pullback. Altarock Partners Cuts Massive 486,910‑Share Microsoft Stake

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Arete Research raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. HSBC reduced their target price on Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Bank of America decreased their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Company 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).