Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Decreased by R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc.

R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 45,865 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,825 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 16.3% of R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. R.H. Dinel Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IRON Financial LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,372,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $9,941,000. PMG Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,347,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,499,000 after buying an additional 2,247 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $641.00 price target (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $392.00 price target (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $588.97.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analyst support and bullish research are drawing buyers — major firms (including Goldman and other brokers) are highlighting MSFT as a rebound candidate and publishing price targets well above current levels, which helps underpin today’s rally. Goldman sees rebound for Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Product and partnership catalysts: Microsoft’s Agent 365 platform is moving to GA with launch partners (supporting enterprise governance for AI agents), and the company is expanding commercial AI tie-ups — tangible signs of enterprise monetization for Copilot/agent products. Reply selected as Microsoft Agent 365 launch partner
• Positive Sentiment: Consumer/PR boost from gaming: fresh details on Forza Horizon 6 and other Xbox updates have driven short‑term positive momentum for MSFT shares tied to Xbox/Xbox Game Pass engagement. Forza Horizon 6 details lift MSFT stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings schedule set — Microsoft will report FY2026 Q3 after the close on April 29; the date focuses attention on Azure growth, backlog metrics and free‑cash‑flow cadence at month‑end. Quarterly earnings release date announced
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner/partner‑ecosystem wins (Azure specializations, platform connectors) keep enterprise pipeline healthy but are incremental to revenue near term. Centrilogic earns Azure specialization
• Negative Sentiment: Executive turnover: another senior departure and the planned retirement of longtime exec Julia Liuson raise governance and continuity questions for developer tools and platform strategy; exits can sap sentiment until leadership transitions settle. Julia Liuson to retire Another senior departure at Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: AI capex and Copilot adoption concerns continue to weigh: investors remain worried about rising infrastructure spend, slower-than-expected Copilot monetization and whether those costs will compress near‑term margins. That narrative has driven much of the stock’s recent re‑rating. Why MSFT stock has been shredded
• Negative Sentiment: Security and legal noise: reports of a developer account lock affecting VeraCrypt updates and an amended lawsuit filing referencing Microsoft add episodic risk that can amplify short‑term volatility. VeraCrypt account termination / Windows update disruption reports

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $374.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $353.10 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $394.50 and its 200-day moving average is $459.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents 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 currently owned by company insiders.

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).