Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is VERITY Wealth Advisors’ 9th Largest Position

VERITY Wealth Advisors trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,279 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,951 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.9% of VERITY Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. VERITY Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BofA reinstated coverage with a Buy and a $500 price target, highlighting Azure and Copilot as drivers for multiyear upside. BofA Projects 31% Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia unveiled an AI partnership aimed at accelerating nuclear-energy design and operations — a potential new commercial use case that underscores enterprise AI tailwinds. Microsoft, Nvidia Team Up To Build AI-Powered Nuclear Energy Future
• Neutral Sentiment: Leadership and HR changes (including the departure of Microsoft’s diversity chief and a wider HR reorganization) are underway — operationally important but with an unclear near-term impact on revenue. Microsoft’s diversity chief is leaving
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch reports this is MSFT’s worst quarter in 17 years, citing weak near-term trends in cloud and software that may not be quickly fixed — a primary driver of negative sentiment. Microsoft’s stock is having its worst quarter in 17 years
• Negative Sentiment: UBS trimmed its 12‑month price target (from $600 to $510), flagging investor scrutiny on M365 and Copilot monetization — a sign analysts see slower near-term upside even if long‑term views remain constructive. Microsoft price target lowered on M365, Copilot questions
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI’s investor document lists heavy reliance on Microsoft for financing and compute as a top risk — this disclosure increases perceived counterparty/partner concentration risk. OpenAI Flags Microsoft as ‘Top Risk’
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noting Copilot retention/monetization issues and rising AI infrastructure spending suggests the stock will need clearer product traction or margin evidence to resume a sustainable rally. Microsoft Shows “Sense of Urgency,” But MSFT Stock Will Only Rally on This Condition

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $371.04 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $413.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $469.35. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.97.

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).