Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Lowered by Westfield Capital Management Co. LP

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP cut its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,705,236 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 52,188 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.7% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $883,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

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 Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $405.76 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $432.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.00. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 currently 22.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

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).