Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.

Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,955 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,198 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.9% of Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched “agentic” AI tools aimed at retailers to automate merchandising, marketing, store ops and fulfillment — a product push that supports faster monetization of Copilot/AI capabilities. Microsoft Introduces Agentic AI Solutions for Retailers
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal agreed to power checkout inside Microsoft’s Copilot experience — a commercial integration that could accelerate Copilot monetization and drive ecosystem stickiness for commerce use cases. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Fiserv partnered with Microsoft to embed AI across its platforms — another enterprise deal that expands Azure usage and indicates demand from financial services for Microsoft’s cloud/AI stack. Fiserv Teams With Microsoft to Expand AI Use
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Jefferies reiterated a Buy with a $675 target and consensus price targets point to meaningful upside, reinforcing investor expectations for strong AI-driven revenue growth. Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI Strategy Reinforces Its Position as a Long-Term Winner, Analyst Says
• Neutral Sentiment: Market previews and earnings calendar items keep attention on upcoming results — analysts expect continued double?digit growth, making the next earnings print the near-term catalyst to validate AI monetization. Microsoft Earnings Preview: What to Expect
• Negative Sentiment: Rumors of large job cuts circulated (and were publicly denied), creating trading noise and prompting short-term selling despite the company’s statement pushing back on the claims. “100 Percent Made Up”: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slips in Response to Layoff Rumors
• Negative Sentiment: Local opposition to a proposed Microsoft data center in Michigan and related controversy add reputational/ permitting risk in the near term for expansion plans. Microsoft revealed as company behind controversial data center proposal in Michigan township
• Negative Sentiment: Legal headlines around OpenAI (where Microsoft is a key partner/investor) — a lawsuit moving forward to trial — represent an external regulatory/legal risk that investors are watching. Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Accusing ChatGPT-Maker OpenAI Of Betraying Its Nonprofit Mission Can Go To Trial, Judge Rules

Microsoft Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $478.11 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $488.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $503.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Arete Research boosted their target price on Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $643.00 to $648.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $665.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $630.11.

Microsoft 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).