Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Cut by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,705,236 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 52,188 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.7% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $883,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. IRON Financial LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,372,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the second quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373 shares in the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched Copilot Cowork (integrating Anthropic’s Claude) to accelerate enterprise AI agents and drive more Azure usage — a clear revenue/consumption play for cloud investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled a higher‑priced Microsoft 365 E7 / “Frontier” AI subscription (~$99/user) aimed at monetizing Copilot seats and raising ARPU from enterprise customers. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst notes and buy-the-dip commentary (including Wedbush and several independent upgrades) reinforce conviction that MSFT’s AI + Azure flywheel still underpins longer‑term upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Opinion pieces urging investors to buy the pullback highlight the view that current weakness may be a longer-term buying opportunity for a dominant cloud/AI platform. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft filed an amicus brief backing Anthropic’s lawsuit to block the DoD’s “supply‑chain risk” designation — this preserves access to Claude for many customers (supporting Azure usage) but leaves regulatory headlines in play. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI/OpenAI-related product moves (e.g., planned Sora video generation in ChatGPT) and ongoing ecosystem developments add optionality to Microsoft’s AI exposure given its infrastructure role. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: The board declared a $0.91 quarterly dividend (small yield), a supportive cash-return policy but not a material near-term catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest jumped meaningfully in February (over 30% growth), which can amplify downside volatility and signal some market skepticism in the near term.
• Negative Sentiment: An EVP disclosed a multi‑million dollar sale of MSFT shares; insider selling and increased short interest add psychological pressure on the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risk from the Anthropic/Pentagon dispute — and warnings about potential supply‑chain disruptions — keep a real near‑term tail risk that could affect government contracts and sentiment. Read More.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.95.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $405.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $432.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $478.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

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).