NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Acquires 7,482 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 287,192 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 7,482 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.6% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $150,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” 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 issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $404.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $463.95 and a 200-day moving average of $494.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partnership and commercial wins — Microsoft expanded its sovereign cloud work with Capgemini, a deal that supports European cloud adoption and strengthens sales channels for Azure. This can help sustain predictable enterprise bookings. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Security fixes for actively exploited bugs — Microsoft pushed February patches for critical Windows/Office zero‑day vulnerabilities used in one‑click attacks, reducing near‑term operational and legal risk for customers and the company. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Data center efficiency initiatives — Microsoft is exploring superconducting power lines and other efficiency measures for its data centers, which could lower long‑term capex/unit costs for its AI infrastructure build. That helps the margin/cash‑flow story over time. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying amid the pullback — Some asset managers (e.g., Fisher Asset Management) have increased positions, signaling conviction from large investors that the pullback creates a buying opportunity. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Underlying cloud migration demand — Analysis argues that steady SQL/legacy migrations to Azure are a durable revenue base (RPO backlog) that cushions AI‑related lumpiness; this is more of a structural reminder than an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern over AI capex and guidance — Reports and commentary highlight record AI spending, lumpiness in cloud growth and conservative near‑term Azure guidance; those worries have pressured the stock as markets digest margin and free‑cash‑flow risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and position trims — Melius downgraded MSFT citing AI capex and cash‑flow risks; Morningstar and some funds trimmed holdings, which contributes to downward pressure from active and quant flows. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Marketwide software sell‑off and sentiment swing — Broader tech/software weakness and short‑term momentum trading amplified MSFT’s decline after the earnings‑period re‑rating, even though fundamentals remain mixed. Article Title

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).