3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Has $9.96 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,892 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,855 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.3% of 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Three Magnolias Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the first quarter. Three Magnolias Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 53,285 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Networth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Networth Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 87.3% in the 1st quarter. TRU Independence Asset Management 2 LLC now owns 7,017 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,597,000 after buying an additional 3,270 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is shifting more Excel and Outlook AI prompts to its own MAI models instead of relying on OpenAI and Anthropic, a move that could reduce AI costs and improve long-term profitability. Microsoft joins AI cost-cutting trend by relying more on its own models
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and market commentators argue Microsoft is trading at a rare discount after its recent pullback, suggesting some investors see the sell-off as a buying opportunity ahead of earnings later this month. Microsoft (MSFT) Is Trading at a Rare Discount. I See a Buying Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced it will report fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 results on July 29, keeping attention on cloud growth, AI spending, and whether margin pressure is easing. Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft continues to get positive attention from some market voices, including CNBC’s “Final Trades,” but this is more sentiment support than a direct fundamental catalyst. Nvidia, Microsoft, ServiceNow And More On CNBC’s ‘Final Trades’
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox unit is facing a deep reset, including roughly 3,200 job cuts and studio divestitures, reinforcing concerns that parts of the business are struggling and that layoffs may not be done yet. Microsoft’s Xbox to Cut 3200 Jobs, Divest Five Studios in Major Overhaul
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also dealing with multiple shareholder lawsuits and deadline reminders tied to alleged securities fraud and Copilot-related disclosures, which adds an overhang on sentiment. MSFT Investment Loss: Microsoft Investors that Lost Money after Copilot Functionality Issues Disclosed are Notified to Contact BFA Law about the Filed Securities Fraud Class Action

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. HSBC dropped their target price on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $570.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Forty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.98.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $383.34 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $404.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $415.50. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

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).