Sunbelt Securities Inc. Has $38.68 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,672 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,283 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 2.7% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $38,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $350,712,742,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $641.00 price objective (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America cut their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $391.79 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $422.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $473.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management is consolidating Copilot product teams to unify commercial and consumer offerings, appointing Jacob Andreou to lead the effort — a move aimed at faster product coherence and adoption that should help monetize Copilot across enterprise and consumer segments. Microsoft unifies Copilot teams (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and coverage highlight that Microsoft is increasingly monetizing AI beyond raw infrastructure — growing Copilot subscription revenue and Agent 365 updates that expand enterprise spend on AI, supporting Azure revenue growth. Wall Street Is Wrong About This AI Cloud Stock (Fool)
• Positive Sentiment: Talent and partnerships: Microsoft hired the Cove AI collaboration team and continues research collaborations (e.g., MediaTek on data‑center optics), signaling continued investment in AI/IP and infrastructure efficiency. These moves support long‑term competitiveness in cloud and model building. Microsoft hires Cove team (TechCrunch)
• Neutral Sentiment: Wider market weakness in technology is weighing on MSFT along with mixed investor commentary and options activity; some investors highlight long‑term strength while others flag valuation and capex concerns. Sector Update: Tech Stocks Retreat (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly weighing legal action against Amazon and OpenAI over a reported $50B OpenAI–Amazon cloud deal that could erode Microsoft’s preferential relationship with OpenAI — a high‑stakes dispute that threatens Azure competitive advantages and future model access. Microsoft weighs legal action over Amazon‑OpenAI deal (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: Security risk: U.S. agencies advised companies to harden Microsoft’s endpoint management tool after the Stryker medical‑device cyberattack, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in enterprise management tooling and potential remediation costs or reputational impact. US agency advisory after Stryker cyberattack (Reuters)
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution scrutiny: Critical coverage and commentary about reassignments within Microsoft’s AI leadership and product performance versus competitors (claims of product lag) may amplify short‑term investor concern about execution and timing to close gaps with rivals. Microsoft reshuffles AI team (FT)

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).