Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 184,903 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.5% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $95,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. BLVD Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 1,276 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the third quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,371,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARK & TLK Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target 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 given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $400.66 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $447.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $485.30. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during 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%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Short-term AI worry eased after comments from Anthropic that tempered fears about AI displacing enterprise software, giving MSFT shares an immediate lift. Microsoft Stock Climbs After AI Fears Ease on Anthropic’s Comments
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its global connectivity push via a partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink (Orbital AI access), which supports Azure edge/sovereign-cloud use cases and broadens market reach in underserved regions. Microsoft and SpaceX’s Starlink partner on global community internet effort
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying and technical oversold signals were highlighted by market commentators, supporting a narrative that the recent pullback may be overdone and attracting value buyers. Microsoft Is Sliding—An Insider Buy and Oversold Signals Are Changing the Setup
• Positive Sentiment: The White House invited major cloud/AI players including Microsoft to a power-cost pledge, a policy development that could ease data‑center energy risk and improve investor confidence around operating costs. White House to host Big Tech in pledge to rein in power costs
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is among strategic backers of autonomous‑driving firm Wayve’s latest funding round — a signal of continued venture activity and ecosystem bets, but limited near‑term revenue impact. Nvidia, Microsoft back self-driving firm Wayve as it hits $8.6 billion valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Leadership changes in Xbox (Asha Sharma replacing Phil Spencer) tie gaming more directly to Microsoft’s AI/cloud strategy — strategically relevant but unlikely to move near-term financials materially. Microsoft Gaming Shift As Asha Sharma Reshapes Xbox And AI Role
• Negative Sentiment: Japan’s Fair Trade Commission reportedly raided Microsoft Japan over suspected anti‑monopoly issues tied to Azure — a regulatory probe that could create legal costs, business disruption or reputational risk if escalated. Microsoft Japan raided over suspected violation of anti-monopoly law, Nikkei says
• Negative Sentiment: High‑profile critics and media voices (e.g., Jim Cramer) called for a “refresh” at Microsoft, adding negative narrative pressure amid the stock’s selloff and keeping sentiment fragile. Microsoft (MSFT) Needs a Refresh, Says Jim Cramer
• Negative Sentiment: Michael Burry’s public accusation about aggressive accounting at big tech (including MSFT) can amplify worries about transparency and AI‑capex accounting, potentially weighing on sentiment if the narrative gains traction. Michael Burry Warns MSFT, GOOG, META Are Using ‘Sinister’ Accounting To Hide AI Costs

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).