Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Scharf Investments LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Scharf Investments trimmed its stake in Microsoft (MSFT) by 11.4% in Q4 to 378,096 shares (worth ~$182.86M), making MSFT its 3rd-largest holding and about 4.9% of the fund's portfolio.
• Insider activity: director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares at $397.35, while EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares at $409.52; corporate insiders now own just 0.03% of the stock.
• Analysts keep a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $586.26 after Microsoft beat Q3 EPS and revenue, and the company declared a $0.91 quarterly dividend, although concerns over Copilot execution, data‑center constraints and recent price‑target cuts have created mixed sentiment.

Scharf Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 378,096 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 48,509 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.9% of Scharf Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Scharf Investments LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $182,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. IRON Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.2% during 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. Wellington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $9,941,000. PMG Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas analyst reiterates confidence that Azure can still “crush estimates” despite investor worries about $150B+ AI spending, arguing Microsoft is on a “war footing” (Copilot overhaul) that supports continued cloud revenue upside. Microsoft Azure Still Poised To Crush Estimates Despite $150 Billion Spending Fears: Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis pieces argue recent sell‑off may be overdone — framing capex concerns as temporary and highlighting MSFT’s long‑term edge in agentic AI, custom silicon and enterprise suites. This supports the bull case for patient investors. Microsoft: Temporary CapEx Panic Masks The Long-Term Edge
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s ecosystem continues to show incremental wins—third‑party offerings landing in the Microsoft Marketplace and M12 (Microsoft’s venture arm) participating in industry deals—helping sustain commercial momentum. A2A Protocol / Marketplace Adoption
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI’s large‑scale monetization plans (reported ad revenue ambitions) could alter the AI market structure; MSFT’s exposure to OpenAI is material, but implications are mixed for Microsoft’s direct revenue and strategic posture. How OpenAI's Reported Ad Plans Could Change the AI Business Model
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft confirmed its Q3 earnings release date (April 29) — a near‑term catalyst that could amplify moves if results or guidance deviate from expectations. Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date
• Negative Sentiment: Product execution concerns surfaced as reports note Copilot UI changes and some institutional customers favoring Anthropic’s Claude — signs of competitive pressure and potential customer churn in AI assistant adoption. Microsoft's Copilot 'Feels Like Teams:' Why This Fund Manager Is Swapping It For Claude
• Negative Sentiment: Industry reports point to real‑world constraints (land, power, permits) forcing hyperscalers to delay or scrap data center projects — a direct challenge to MSFT’s ability to scale cloud capacity quickly without steep incremental costs. While Amazon, Microsoft, Google Struggle With AI On Land — China Looks To The Sea
• Negative Sentiment: Macro and sector weakness: new console sales data and broader software slump headlines have pressured MSFT shares alongside peers, and at least one large investor disclosed trimming a Microsoft stake. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft Stocks All Fall on New Video Game Console Sales Data

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $586.26.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $370.87 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $392.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $457.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $355.67 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 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).

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