Kathleen Hogan Sells 12,321 Shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) EVP Kathleen Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of MSFT stock 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $432.22 and its 200-day moving average is $478.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 500.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 target price (down from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Wedbush dropped their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Copilot Cowork (Anthropic’s Claude) rollout strengthens Microsoft’s enterprise AI roadmap and should drive Azure cloud consumption and seat-based revenue growth. Microsoft taps Anthropic for Copilot Cowork in push for AI agents
• Positive Sentiment: New E7 $99/user Microsoft 365 bundle (Copilot + enterprise agents) could accelerate Copilot adoption, raise ARPU and create stickier recurring revenue. Microsoft adds higher-priced Office tier with Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Azure AI momentum and the company’s dual-model strategy (supporting both Anthropic and OpenAI models) sustain long-term cloud growth and give Microsoft optionality regardless of which models customers prefer. Microsoft Positioned to Win AI Race With Dual-Model Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 — provides income support and signals capital-return discipline. Microsoft announces quarterly dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft filed an amicus brief supporting Anthropic’s request to pause the Pentagon’s supply-chain designation — this preserves customer access to Claude (and Azure consumption) but keeps MSFT exposed to an evolving regulatory/geopolitical story. Microsoft files amicus brief in support of Anthropic’s lawsuit with US DOD
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst commentary: some see the YTD pullback as a buying opportunity while others point to slower near-term Copilot enterprise rollouts — expect headline-driven intraday swings. Should You Buy Microsoft At $400?
• Negative Sentiment: Anthropic’s Pentagon dispute (supply‑chain designation and ensuing lawsuit) raises regulatory and policy risk that can spill into Microsoft given the partnership and federal contracting exposure. Anthropic sues to block Pentagon blacklisting
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment pressure: an EVP disclosed a multi‑million dollar sale (12,321 shares) and short interest rose in February — both can amplify downside in a thin-volume, news-driven session. SEC Form 4 — Kathleen T. Hogan sale

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).