Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 72,089 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,580 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.5% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Melius Research set a $430.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, February 9th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s 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 owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This 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 currently owned by insiders.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft secured a deal to lock in a 20% share of OpenAI’s revenue through 2032 — a material, long-duration cash-flow stream that reinforces MSFT’s strategic AI partnership and upside if OpenAI monetizes broadly. Microsoft Locks In 20% Of OpenAI’s Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 MSFT shares, signaling management confidence and giving investors a modest behavioral vote of confidence. Insider Purchase: Director at $MSFT Buys 5,000 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reaffirmed its renewable-energy commitments—continuing to match its electricity needs with clean power as it scales data-center capacity, which reduces regulatory/ESG risk for long-term investors. Microsoft to keep buying renewable energy to match electricity needs
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street interest: notes calling Microsoft “under-owned” and continued buy/overweight ratings (and a median price target well above current levels) provide conviction for inflows from institutional investors. Morgan Stanley: Microsoft is under-owned
• Neutral Sentiment: Global growth push: Microsoft says it’s on pace to invest ~$50B in AI across the “Global South” through 2030 — a major long-term market expansion that could drive growth but also requires heavy up-front capex and multi-year execution. Microsoft $50B Global South AI push
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships/marketplace traction: CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform is now on Microsoft Marketplace, easing procurement for customers and reinforcing MSFT’s enterprise security ecosystem (incremental revenue/ stickiness but limited immediate top-line impact). Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: AI risks and bugs: reports of a Copilot/Office bug and new “AI recommendation poisoning” threats have raised short-term security and quality concerns around Microsoft’s AI products, which can pressure enterprise adoption sentiment. New AI-Related Bug Does Not Dampen Microsoft Stock AI Recommendation Poisoning
• Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation and spending concerns: some funds are trimming MSFT amid worries that aggressive AI infrastructure and capex could weigh near-term margins — paired with downgrades and headlines about investor selling that create volatility. Investors Dump Microsoft Shares Melius Research Downgrades Microsoft

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7%

MSFT opened at $399.60 on Thursday. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $455.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $489.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) 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).