R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,865 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,825 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 16.3% of R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analyst support and bullish research are drawing buyers — major firms (including Goldman and other brokers) are highlighting MSFT as a rebound candidate and publishing price targets well above current levels, which helps underpin today’s rally. Goldman sees rebound for Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Product and partnership catalysts: Microsoft’s Agent 365 platform is moving to GA with launch partners (supporting enterprise governance for AI agents), and the company is expanding commercial AI tie-ups — tangible signs of enterprise monetization for Copilot/agent products. Reply selected as Microsoft Agent 365 launch partner
• Positive Sentiment: Consumer/PR boost from gaming: fresh details on Forza Horizon 6 and other Xbox updates have driven short‑term positive momentum for MSFT shares tied to Xbox/Xbox Game Pass engagement. Forza Horizon 6 details lift MSFT stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings schedule set — Microsoft will report FY2026 Q3 after the close on April 29; the date focuses attention on Azure growth, backlog metrics and free‑cash‑flow cadence at month‑end. Quarterly earnings release date announced
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner/partner‑ecosystem wins (Azure specializations, platform connectors) keep enterprise pipeline healthy but are incremental to revenue near term. Centrilogic earns Azure specialization
• Negative Sentiment: Executive turnover: another senior departure and the planned retirement of longtime exec Julia Liuson raise governance and continuity questions for developer tools and platform strategy; exits can sap sentiment until leadership transitions settle. Julia Liuson to retire Another senior departure at Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: AI capex and Copilot adoption concerns continue to weigh: investors remain worried about rising infrastructure spend, slower-than-expected Copilot monetization and whether those costs will compress near‑term margins. That narrative has driven much of the stock’s recent re‑rating. Why MSFT stock has been shredded
• Negative Sentiment: Security and legal noise: reports of a developer account lock affecting VeraCrypt updates and an amended lawsuit filing referencing Microsoft add episodic risk that can amplify short‑term volatility. VeraCrypt account termination / Windows update disruption reports

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC cut 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. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $588.97.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

Microsoft stock opened at $374.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $394.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $459.69. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $353.10 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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).