1,733 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by Northland Securities Inc.

Key Points

• Northland Securities bought a new stake of 1,733 shares of Microsoft in Q4 (about $838,000), and institutional investors now own roughly 71.13% of the company.
• Microsoft reported a Q3 beat (EPS $4.27 vs. $4.06; revenue $82.89B, +18.3% YoY) and investors are bullish on >40% Azure/cloud growth and accelerating AI monetization, supported by Pentagon agreements and several analyst price‑target raises.
• Offsetting optimism, the company’s elevated AI/cloud spending—including a guidance of roughly $190B in capex—and reports of high cloud cash burn have pressured the stock and led some brokers to trim targets.

Northland Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,733 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $838,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IRON Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.2% in the third quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the period. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,347,000 after buying an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $493,860,000 after buying an additional 9,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 14.0% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,499,000 after buying an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 results and the earnings call highlighted 40%+ Azure/cloud growth and accelerating AI monetization, giving investors confidence in the company’s long-term AI revenue runway. Microsoft Earnings Call: AI Growth Surges, Margins Squeezed
• Positive Sentiment: The U.S. Pentagon signed agreements allowing Microsoft’s AI tech on classified networks — a credibility and contract win that can translate into long-term, high‑value government revenue. Pentagon inks deals with Nvidia, Microsoft and AWS to deploy AI on classified networks
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst actions include several price‑target raises and reaffirmations (Benchmark raised to $525, others keep buy ratings), signaling continued bullish conviction among some buy‑side firms. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Price Target Increased to $525 by Benchmark
• Positive Sentiment: Product catalyst: rollout of Windows 11’s new Xbox Mode supports consumer engagement and adds a near‑term, tangible product story for the stock. Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Jumps on Windows 11 Xbox Mode Rollout
• Neutral Sentiment: The revised Microsoft–OpenAI relationship (ending exclusivity) is being parsed by markets: it reduces some exclusivity upside but clarifies commercial terms that could be neutral-to-positive longer term depending on monetization. Microsoft and OpenAI Just Ended Their Exclusive Deal, and Wall Street Is Trying Hard to Shake Off the Negatives for MSFT Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from TV/hosts (e.g., Jim Cramer) describes MSFT as attractively valued but notes limited new messaging on the call — this shapes retail sentiment but isn’t new fundamental data. Jim Cramer on Microsoft: “Maybe You Can Consider It Cheap, But It’s Software”
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on record capex (roughly $190B guidance) and the near‑term hit to free cash flow — that spending narrative caused the post‑earnings pullback and continues to cap the multiple. Beat meets bill: MSFT stock slips on AI expenditure concerns despite strong Q3
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman’s note flagging extreme cloud cash burn and other outlets highlighting the industry’s rising AI capex raises concern that spending could pressure margins and returns if monetization lags. Microsoft, Amazon On Watch ― Goldman Sounds Alarm On 90% Cloud Cash Burn
• Negative Sentiment: Some brokers trimmed price targets or cut upside on valuation as they bake in capex risk (HSBC cut its target), keeping a portion of the market cautious. HSBC Cuts Microsoft Price Target to $571 From $593

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $556.15.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $414.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.28. The business's 50 day moving average price is $395.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $448.37. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.