Mutual Advisors LLC Sells 5,577 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Mutual Advisors LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 213,462 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,577 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.5% of Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $111,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Uptick Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 14,254 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,383,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 83,774 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,877 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 18,091 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,375,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,755,922 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,945,376,000 after purchasing an additional 52,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victrix Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors now owns 18,620 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,644,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, New Street Research boosted their target price on Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at BNP and others say OpenAI’s large new funding round should still benefit Microsoft because of its deep Azure and infrastructure ties — a reminder that MSFT remains a key AI partner and infrastructure provider. OpenAI’s massive funding round should benefit Microsoft, Oracle: BNP
• Positive Sentiment: An insider (director Stanton John) bought roughly $2M of MSFT stock, signalling confidence from management-level insiders during the pullback. Director Stanton John Just Bought $2 Million of Microsoft Stock
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat / Altimetry note that Microsoft is “at the center of AI” with high switching costs and under-appreciated fundamentals — an argument that current valuation weakness is sentiment-driven and could reverse. AI Is Separating Software Winners From Losers, 2 Experts Explain
• Positive Sentiment: Dynamics 365 business applications continue to post solid mid-teens to high‑teens growth and are cited as a consistent driver of Productivity & Business Processes revenue — a durable growth stream beyond Azure. Can Microsoft Stock Rally on Dynamics 365 Business Applications?
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced its next quarterly dividend payable March 13 — a steady income signal but unlikely to move the stock materially amid the current narrative-driven trading. Microsoft to pay dividends on March 13; Here’s how much 100 MSFT shares will earn
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction to OpenAI’s announcement cut both ways: Microsoft wasn’t named among some of the latest funding/partner headlines, prompting investor worry about its standing with OpenAI and driving selling pressure. What’s Behind The Drop In Microsoft Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Japan’s authorities carried out a raid tied to suspected antitrust issues around Microsoft’s cloud business, raising regulatory risk in a major market. Microsoft Japan raided over suspected violation of anti-monopoly law, source says
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/real‑estate headwinds: reports of data center/building delays and related execution noise have been cited as a near-term drag on sentiment. “On Hold Until Further Notice”: Microsoft Stock Slumps With Building Delay
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI-capex and semiconductor market jitters (Nvidia-centric weakness) are depressing the megacap tech complex; investors are weighing heavy industry capex against margins and balance-sheet strain. That macro pressure is spilling over to Microsoft. Nvidia Fails to Reassure—Heard on the Street

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $392.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $443.56 and a 200-day moving average of $483.50.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

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).