Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,245 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.0% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after acquiring an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth $18,733,827,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.37.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and Street optimism — Wedbush’s Dan Ives and others are positioning Microsoft as set for strong Q4 results tied to AI/cloud momentum, helping lift sentiment ahead of earnings. Dan Ives: Very Strong Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Broker reaffirmation — Morgan Stanley kept an Overweight rating and high $650 target based on survey data showing rising enterprise software spend, supporting longer‑term upside expectations. Morgan Stanley Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI monetization boost — OpenAI’s worldwide rollout of the lower‑cost ChatGPT Go subscription expands the addressable market for AI services where Microsoft has strategic exposure, lifting revenue hopes. OpenAI ChatGPT Go Worldwide
• Positive Sentiment: Data‑center expansion/community plan — News of a $500M–$1B Michigan data‑center push and Microsoft’s “community‑first” messaging shows continued capex to support Azure/AI growth, which investors view as reinforcing future revenue streams despite near‑term costs. Michigan Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/short‑term rebound thesis — Some analysts note MSFT is oversold and could see a technical bounce ahead of earnings, which supports trading interest but is not a fundamental catalyst. Zacks: Ripe for Turnaround
• Neutral Sentiment: Minor operational housekeeping — The company closed some on‑campus libraries, a small cost/real‑estate move that got attention but is unlikely to materially affect earnings. MSFT Shuts Libraries
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory probe into Activision Blizzard — Italy opened investigations into alleged “misleading and aggressive” in‑game purchase practices for Call of Duty Mobile and Diablo Immortal, creating reputational and potential financial risk for MSFT’s gaming unit. Italy Investigates Activision
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk from Musk trial — A judge cleared Elon Musk’s suit against OpenAI and Microsoft to proceed to a jury trial in April, introducing headline legal overhang and potential distraction/costs. Musk Trial Moves Forward
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny and analyst trim — Switzerland opened a probe into Microsoft’s licensing fees and Barclays lowered its price target, both adding near‑term headwinds to sentiment amid capex worries and noted insider selling. Swiss Probe into Licensing Fees

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

MSFT opened at $459.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $483.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $502.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

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).