Jones Financial Companies Lllp Buys 171,682 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,486,773 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 171,682 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.5% of Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $761,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft News Roundup

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 target price (down from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. New Street Research raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought 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 represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of MSFT opened at $392.74 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-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 1.10. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $443.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $483.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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