Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is National Wealth Management Group LLC’s 8th Largest Position

National Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 114.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,050 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,902 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.2% of National Wealth Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. National Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi reiterated a Buy on Microsoft, highlighting continued Copilot adoption and strong Azure growth as reasons the company can outpace the recent sell-off. Microsoft in focus as Citi reiterates buy
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares (~$2M), a behavioral vote of confidence that can help stabilize sentiment among retail/institutional investors. Microsoft Director John Stanton Buys 5,000 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s extended OpenAI revenue arrangement (locking a meaningful share of OpenAI output through 2032) is a multi-year revenue and strategic moat tailwind for AI monetization. As Microsoft extends 20% OpenAI deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced a large long-term commitment to expand AI access in the Global South (reported ~$50B), a growth opportunity that also implies heavy multi-year capex and execution risk. Microsoft to invest $50B in Global South AI push
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships and marketplace traction (e.g., CrowdStrike on Microsoft Marketplace) reinforce enterprise ecosystem stickiness but have limited immediate revenue impact. Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership change in gaming: Phil Spencer’s immediate retirement and replacement by Asha Sharma introduces near-term uncertainty for Xbox strategy and investor confidence in the gaming unit. Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer retires
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel downgraded MSFT (Buy→Hold) and cut its price target, citing Azure supply constraints as a near-term growth headwind — a concrete analyst call that can pressure flows and justify further volatility. Stifel flags Azure supply constraints
• Negative Sentiment: Fresh AI quality/security reports (Copilot/Office bug and “AI recommendation poisoning” threats) raise short-term adoption and reputational risk that could delay enterprise deployments and weigh on sentiment. AI recommendation poisoning concerns

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 18th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $397.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $452.13 and its 200-day moving average is $488.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).