Freestone Capital Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 450,150 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 24,124 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.4% of Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $217,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $259,539,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,314,509 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,823,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532,054 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.
Microsoft News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Microsoft moved Agent 365 out of preview to general availability, positioning itself as a leader in governance and security for enterprise AI agents — this improves MSFT’s enterprise stickiness and could accelerate cloud/Copilot adoption. Microsoft takes Agent 365 out of preview
- Positive Sentiment: A small OpenClaw team is building “Project Lobster,” an always-on assistant for knowledge workers inside Microsoft 365 — a product-led initiative that could expand Copilot-like monetization across Office workloads. Microsoft’s OpenClaw team takes on the personal assistant challenge
- Positive Sentiment: Street support remains: Bernstein recently lifted its price objective and other analysts highlight large backlog growth and long-run upside, reinforcing a constructive view on MSFT’s AI/cloud runway. Microsoft (MSFT): Most Promising AI Stock to Invest In
- Neutral Sentiment: Partner ecosystem traction: Microsoft is showing up in industry implementations (e.g., Medline’s Mpower supply‑chain solution built with Microsoft, and strong MSP adoption via Nerdio), which signals steady commercial demand but not immediate margin impact. Medline officially launches Mpower
- Negative Sentiment: Capital spending worries: analysts and commentators are flagging sharply higher AI capex (guidance for large GPU/infra spend and multiyear capex) and concerns about near-term capex ROI — a primary driver behind recent investor selling. Microsoft: Reasons To Be Concerned About Capex ROI
- Negative Sentiment: Post‑earnings weakness persists: the stock dropped after last week’s results as some investors parsed the spending outlook and backlog/momentum nuances, and commentators note the market reaction remains cautious. What can power Microsoft stock higher after earnings stumble?
- Negative Sentiment: Wider tech headwinds: hedge‑fund de‑risking of big tech and local data‑center/energy constraints (e.g., Denmark connection pauses) add macro and operational risk to MSFT’s hyperscale buildout. Hedge Funds Launch Biggest Tech Stock Pullback In Over 10 Years
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $610.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $556.00.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Microsoft
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).
Read More
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Microsoft Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Microsoft and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
