Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Lingohr Asset Management GmbH

Lingohr Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 895.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,606 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,926 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.8% of Lingohr Asset Management GmbH’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after buying an additional 13,691,572 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,823,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.95.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2%

MSFT stock opened at $392.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $443.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $483.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 22.76%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at BNP and others say OpenAI’s large new funding round should still benefit Microsoft because of its deep Azure and infrastructure ties — a reminder that MSFT remains a key AI partner and infrastructure provider. OpenAI’s massive funding round should benefit Microsoft, Oracle: BNP
• Positive Sentiment: An insider (director Stanton John) bought roughly $2M of MSFT stock, signalling confidence from management-level insiders during the pullback. Director Stanton John Just Bought $2 Million of Microsoft Stock
• Positive Sentiment: MarketBeat / Altimetry note that Microsoft is “at the center of AI” with high switching costs and under-appreciated fundamentals — an argument that current valuation weakness is sentiment-driven and could reverse. AI Is Separating Software Winners From Losers, 2 Experts Explain
• Positive Sentiment: Dynamics 365 business applications continue to post solid mid-teens to high‑teens growth and are cited as a consistent driver of Productivity & Business Processes revenue — a durable growth stream beyond Azure. Can Microsoft Stock Rally on Dynamics 365 Business Applications?
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced its next quarterly dividend payable March 13 — a steady income signal but unlikely to move the stock materially amid the current narrative-driven trading. Microsoft to pay dividends on March 13; Here’s how much 100 MSFT shares will earn
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction to OpenAI’s announcement cut both ways: Microsoft wasn’t named among some of the latest funding/partner headlines, prompting investor worry about its standing with OpenAI and driving selling pressure. What’s Behind The Drop In Microsoft Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Japan’s authorities carried out a raid tied to suspected antitrust issues around Microsoft’s cloud business, raising regulatory risk in a major market. Microsoft Japan raided over suspected violation of anti-monopoly law, source says
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/real‑estate headwinds: reports of data center/building delays and related execution noise have been cited as a near-term drag on sentiment. “On Hold Until Further Notice”: Microsoft Stock Slumps With Building Delay
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI-capex and semiconductor market jitters (Nvidia-centric weakness) are depressing the megacap tech complex; investors are weighing heavy industry capex against margins and balance-sheet strain. That macro pressure is spilling over to Microsoft. Nvidia Fails to Reassure—Heard on the Street

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).