Brown Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Brown Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 79.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 877 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,376 shares during the quarter. Brown Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Silphium Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 39.9% in the third quarter. Silphium Asset Management Ltd now owns 23,558 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,202,000 after purchasing an additional 6,720 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,466 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,939,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Finer Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,588 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,325,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,917 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,547,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 98,213 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $50,869,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $403.93 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $440.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $481.55. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Huge, ongoing AI investments from Microsoft and peers underscore the company’s commitment to AI leadership and justify premium multiples for Azure and Copilot-related revenue growth. Microsoft and Alphabet Spend Billions On AI: A Closer Look
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s push into new data-center capacity (Michigan initiative) strengthens its ability to host AI workloads, reducing supply constraints and supporting future Azure/AI revenue. Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Gains With New Charm Offensive for Data Centers in Michigan
• Positive Sentiment: RBC reaffirmed an “outperform” rating, providing an analyst-level vote of confidence that can support buying interest after recent weakness. RBC Outperform Affirmed
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity and technical positioning show elevated trader interest and volatility—this can amplify moves but isn’t a clear directional catalyst on its own. Microsoft Stock Testing 2 Key Levels as Options Traders Pounce
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street pieces and commentators list MSFT among top large-cap AI/infra names to own—supportive long-term thesis but not an immediate catalyst. 2 Trillion-Dollar Stocks That Could Soar by 40% and 50%
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/video commentary highlights short-term SaaS volatility but sees Microsoft among rebound candidates—useful for traders, less so for long-term investors. SaaS-pocalypse Opportunities in MSFT, AMZN, PLTR, NOW & Others
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI is reportedly building a code-repository to rival GitHub, which could erode a strategic Microsoft asset and developer ecosystem advantage if it gains traction. OpenAI is developing alternative to Microsoft’s GitHub
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing “Microslop”/Copilot Discord controversy and criticism that MSFT is underperforming YTD weigh on sentiment and could pressure multiples if developer trust or user adoption is impacted. ‘It’s Performing Worse,’ Says Investor About Microsoft Stock

Microsoft Company 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).