Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University lowered its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,140 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,983 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.0% of Vanderbilt University’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Vanderbilt University’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft rolled out a “community‑first” plan for U.S. AI data centers, pledging to pay for grid upgrades, replenish water use, and work with local communities — a move that should ease political and permitting risk and support continued Azure/AI capacity expansion. Microsoft Unveils “Community-First” Plan for U.S. AI Data Center Buildout
• Positive Sentiment: Wikipedia announced AI licensing deals that include Microsoft, formalizing access to curated content for training models — this reduces content‑access uncertainty and supports product quality for Copilot/Foundry offerings. Wikipedia owner signs on Microsoft, Meta in AI content training deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft agreed to buy a record 2.85M soil carbon credits to offset rising emissions from its data centers — good for ESG positioning but represents a recurring program cost to support AI growth. Microsoft in record deal for soil carbon credits as data centres surge
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are focused on Jan. 28 (fiscal Q2 results) and company AI updates — a potential volatility catalyst that could reset sentiment either way depending on AI revenue/margin cues. Why Jan. 28 Could Be a Very Big Day for Microsoft Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Switzerland’s competition authority opened a preliminary probe into Microsoft’s licensing fees for Microsoft 365 after complaints of steep price hikes — potential regulatory/legal headwind to pricing power and enterprise contracts in Europe. Swiss competition authority opens probe into Microsoft licensing fees
• Negative Sentiment: Reports say Microsoft may spend ~ $500M/year with Anthropic to integrate Claude models into Microsoft products — meaningful incremental operating expense that could pressure near‑term margins even as it diversifies AI supply. Is Microsoft’s $500 Million AI Pivot to Anthropic an Admission of Failure?
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market/technical pressure: analysts and headlines note MSFT has hit multi‑month lows and is facing selling pressure as the AI trade cools and duration/interest‑rate concerns linger. That sentiment is amplifying reactions to the above cost and regulatory items. Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Hits Six-Month Low as AI Trade Loses Steam

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $459.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $485.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $503.16. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).