Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Sonora Investment Management Group LLC

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 129,887 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,356 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.8% of Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $67,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $485.92 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $499.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $502.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. 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, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Arete Research lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Guggenheim set a $675.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.03.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and coverage point to improving AI economics — reports say Azure AI margins are positive and revenue is likely to beat estimates, supporting near-term earnings upside and giving investors confidence in cloud monetization. Azure AI margins article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft pledged $17.5 billion of investment in AI and cloud infrastructure in India — a large, long-term growth initiative that should expand Azure adoption and enterprise spending in a major emerging market. India investment article
• Positive Sentiment: New enterprise partnerships (Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro) and a Cognizant-led push to scale Microsoft 365/GitHub Copilot & agentic AI deployments could accelerate commercial adoption and drive higher software and Azure consumption. Partnerships article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined the U.S. “Genesis Mission” AI initiative alongside top AI firms — positioning MSFT to capture government and scientific AI spend and reinforcing strategic leadership in national AI programs. Genesis Mission article
• Positive Sentiment: Partner-channel and device news helped sentiment — LG’s reported backpedal on making Copilot mandatory drove a small positive knee-jerk move, easing concerns about forced integrations and signaling partner flexibility. LG Copilot article
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary frames MSFT as a durable AI/dividend play — pieces highlighting dividend/long-term strength keep buy-and-hold narratives alive but are unlikely to move price materially on their own. MarketBeat dividend article
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer-product updates (Office 2024 upgrade) and legacy product refreshes support steady software sales, but are lower-impact versus cloud/AI developments. Office 2024 article
• Negative Sentiment: Jim Cramer warned that Microsoft “requires mass spending” to keep Azure competitive — a direct headline that reinforces investor worries about rising capex and margin pressure as MSFT scales data centers and AI infrastructure. Cramer spending article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI/tech jitters and commentary about “ballooning” capex have pressured the stock in recent weeks; that narrative could cap multiple expansion until evidence of durable margin recovery is clear. CapEx concerns article

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).