Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 751,022 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 75,419 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.4% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $388,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 32.3% in the third quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 54,028 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,984,000 after acquiring an additional 13,195 shares during the last quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 254,333 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $131,732,000 after purchasing an additional 8,339 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its position in Microsoft by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 1,166,303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $603,754,000 after purchasing an additional 61,568 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 242.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,709,000 after purchasing an additional 2,335 shares during the period. Finally, Chilton Investment Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chilton Investment Co. Inc. now owns 957,255 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $495,810,000 after purchasing an additional 37,665 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.95.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft has a near-term product catalyst: a $99/month AI tools bundle (includes Copilot capabilities) with a May 1 launch that could drive commercial adoption and recurring ARR growth. Microsoft Is Racing to Beat Claude Cowork. A Big Catalyst for MSFT Stock Is Coming May 1.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding into healthcare AI with Copilot Health (can read medical records and provide personalized insights) and partner integrations, opening a large vertical market and cross‑sell opportunities for Azure and Copilot. Microsoft launched a new healthcare chatbot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft 365 E7 bundles Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude Cowork and security tools — a premium enterprise offering that can lift average revenue per user for large customers. Analysts continue to highlight AI-driven revenue upside. Microsoft’s New E7 AI Suite And Healthcare Push Shape Long-Term Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox/product cycle news: Microsoft is advancing Project Helix (next‑gen Xbox) but prototypes won’t reach developers until 2027 — positive for long-term console moat but not an immediate revenue driver. Microsoft’s Next Xbox Moves Closer to Reality: What It Means for MSFT Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Gaming/graphics tech progress (DirectX/advanced shader delivery with NVIDIA/Intel) reduces frictions for PC gaming and helps Xbox/Windows gaming competitiveness but is a more gradual, longer-term tailwind. DirectX Gears Up For ML Era On Windows
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about huge AI data‑center capex and public pushback over electricity/costs is weighing on the stock; large lease and buildouts boost growth but increase near‑term cash burn. Who is really footing the AI energy bill? Inside the debate about data center electricity costs
• Negative Sentiment: Security scare: reports of a new vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator have spooked investors and triggered selling pressure tied to identity/security risk. New Vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator Sends Microsoft Stock Sliding
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership change: Rajesh Jha, a long‑time head of experiences and devices (Office/Copilot products), announced retirement — creates short‑term execution/transition uncertainty. Microsoft’s Rajesh Jha, head of experiences and devices unit, to retire
• Negative Sentiment: Options and flows show increased demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), reflecting trader caution after the pullback. Option traders moderately bearish in Microsoft with shareslittle changed

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $395.55 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $427.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $475.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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).