Oxbow Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,442 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,217 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.8% of Oxbow Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $40,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second 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. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Microsoft News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
Positive Sentiment: Microsoft secured a deal to lock in a 20% share of OpenAI’s revenue through 2032 — a material, long-duration cash-flow stream that reinforces MSFT’s strategic AI partnership and upside if OpenAI monetizes broadly. Microsoft Locks In 20% Of OpenAI’s Revenue
Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 MSFT shares, signaling management confidence and giving investors a modest behavioral vote of confidence. Insider Purchase: Director at $MSFT Buys 5,000 Shares
Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reaffirmed its renewable-energy commitments—continuing to match its electricity needs with clean power as it scales data-center capacity, which reduces regulatory/ESG risk for long-term investors. Microsoft to keep buying renewable energy to match electricity needs
Positive Sentiment: Wall Street interest: notes calling Microsoft “under-owned” and continued buy/overweight ratings (and a median price target well above current levels) provide conviction for inflows from institutional investors. Morgan Stanley: Microsoft is under-owned
Neutral Sentiment: Global growth push: Microsoft says it’s on pace to invest ~$50B in AI across the “Global South” through 2030 — a major long-term market expansion that could drive growth but also requires heavy up-front capex and multi-year execution. Microsoft $50B Global South AI push
Neutral Sentiment: Partnerships/marketplace traction: CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform is now on Microsoft Marketplace, easing procurement for customers and reinforcing MSFT’s enterprise security ecosystem (incremental revenue/ stickiness but limited immediate top-line impact). Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
Negative Sentiment: AI risks and bugs: reports of a Copilot/Office bug and new “AI recommendation poisoning” threats have raised short-term security and quality concerns around Microsoft’s AI products, which can pressure enterprise adoption sentiment. New AI-Related Bug Does Not Dampen Microsoft Stock AI Recommendation Poisoning
Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation and spending concerns: some funds are trimming MSFT amid worries that aggressive AI infrastructure and capex could weigh near-term margins — paired with downgrades and headlines about investor selling that create volatility. Investors Dump Microsoft Shares Melius Research Downgrades Microsoft
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $392.00 price objective (down previously from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.95.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
Microsoft Trading Up 0.7%
Shares of MSFT opened at $399.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.08. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $455.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $489.92.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
About Microsoft
(Free Report)
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).
Further Reading
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