Triad Wealth Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Triad Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,956 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,044 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.8% of Triad Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Triad Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CNB Bank boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 30,513 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,804,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.2% in the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 17,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,265,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 37,368 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,256,000 after buying an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the third quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 38,458 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,919,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the period. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.3% during the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 45,417 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,524,000 after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $401.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $460.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $492.53. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month 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 $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major private-market validation for the AI ecosystem could benefit Microsoft as a cloud and AI infrastructure provider — Anthropic’s new $380B valuation (which includes investments tied to Microsoft) signals strong enterprise demand for AI models and likely more backend cloud consumption. Anthropic Valuation Hits $380 Billion as Enterprise AI Demand Explodes
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reaffirmed a Buy on MSFT with a $635 price target — a bullish institutional view that supports the long‑term AI/cloud thesis despite recent sentiment-driven weakness. Microsoft: Buy Rating Reaffirmed on Undervalued AI and Cloud Growth Drivers Despite Sentiment-Driven Sell-Off
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is leading industry efforts on “digital trust” with other large tech firms (Trusted Tech Alliance), a reputational win that may ease enterprise sales cycles for security‑sensitive customers. Microsoft, Ericsson lead global tech alliance for digital trust
• Positive Sentiment: R&D/infra innovation: reports that Microsoft is exploring superconducting power lines for AI data centers point to potential long‑term efficiency gains and differentiation for its hyperscale buildout. Microsoft Explores Superconducting Power to Boost AI Data Centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft AI chief’s bold timeline for rapid white‑collar automation (12–18 months) fuels debate — it underscores market opportunity but also raises labor/regulatory concerns that could shape adoption rates. Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months — for all white-collar work to be automated by AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Market technicians and contrarian pieces argue MSFT looks oversold/potentially bottoming after the post‑earnings drop — these narratives can attract buyers, but timing is uncertain. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Price Forecast: Bottoming at Channel Support?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk increased today: the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has issued investigative demands and questioned Microsoft’s rivals about its AI/cloud licensing and business practices — this escalation is a clear near‑term negative catalyst. US FTC ramps up scrutiny of Microsoft over AI, cloud practices, questions rivals, Bloomberg reports
• Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation and positioning: several funds disclosed cuts to MSFT stakes this week, and commentary highlights investor concern over heavy CapEx for AI infrastructure and concentration risk tied to OpenAI—factors that have pressured the stock. PRIMECAP Management Co cuts Microsoft stake by 1.1M
• Negative Sentiment: Critics argue Microsoft has underperformed some AI peers and that capex intensity may strain free cash flow, reinforcing sentiment‑driven selling pressure. Microsoft Is Spending, Investors Are Losing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Microsoft 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).