Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Proem Advisors LLC

Proem Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,000 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.9% of Proem Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Proem Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft expanded its sustainability leadership with two multi‑year carbon removal purchase deals totaling nearly 3 million tonnes, which bolsters ESG credentials and may support institutional demand from ESG‑focused investors. Microsoft Kicks Off 2026 With Flurry Of Large-Scale Carbon Removal Purchase Deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media continue to list Microsoft among top AI investment plays (alongside Nvidia & Alphabet), reinforcing long‑term demand narratives for Azure and Copilot products. This supports the stock’s growth story even amid short‑term volatility. Best AI Stocks 2026: NVIDIA, Microsoft, Alphabet Top the List
• Positive Sentiment: Large ETFs (including Vanguard funds) are positioned to capture the AI boom and include Microsoft, which can keep steady passive inflows into MSFT if AI optimism returns. 3 Vanguard ETFs Riding the AI Boom with Nvidia, Microsoft, and Tech Giants
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/market commentary sees potential post‑holiday recovery setups for major tech names, including MSFT, which is more a trading observation than a fundamentals change. MSFT, GOOG and AMZN Forecast – Major Tech Stocks Looking to Recover After President’s Day
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent hedge fund activity is mixed — some managers trimmed MSFT while others added to positions — indicating divergent institutional views but no clear one‑way pressure yet. (Examples include Sands Capital trimming and Maverick/Soros adding.) Sands Capital Management Trims Microsoft Stake, Sells 394,869 Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Market anxiety from OpenAI’s large compute/backlog pledge has rippled to cloud partners; headlines suggest Oracle, Microsoft and Broadcom shares were hit on fears of elevated AI compute costs and margin pressure. OpenAI Backlog Shockwave: Are Investors Punishing Oracle, Microsoft And Broadcom Over Altman’s Trillion-Dollar Compute Bet?
• Negative Sentiment: Investor disappointment persists around Microsoft’s recent quarter: while results were broadly solid, several writeups note the company “fell short of expectations” on some metrics and that Copilot paying‑customer counts were smaller than hoped — factors driving short‑term selling. Investors Are Selling This AI Stock, but Is It Actually a Screaming Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: Additional hedge‑fund stake reductions (e.g., Altarock’s large cut) add to near‑term selling pressure and reflect some managers de‑risking amid the broader software/AI pullback. Altarock Partners Cuts Massive 486,910‑Share Microsoft Stake

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $401.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $458.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $491.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $81.27 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $641.00 price target (down previously from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $392.00 target price (down previously from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

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).