Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Salomon & Ludwin LLC

Key Points

• Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 5.0%, buying 2,959 shares to hold 61,662 shares worth $31.9 million, making MSFT its 8th largest position at 2.9% of the portfolio.
• Institutional ownership is concentrated—Vanguard, State Street and Geode hold hundreds of millions of shares and, overall, about 71.13% of Microsoft is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $630.37; near‑term catalysts include fiscal Q2 earnings on Jan. 28 and AI/licensing wins, while risks include a Swiss probe into licensing fees, rising third‑party AI costs (Anthropic spending) and a large carbon‑credit purchase.

Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,662 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,959 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.9% of Salomon & Ludwin LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Salomon & Ludwin LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $500.00 price target (down previously from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $625.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Melius Research upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $640.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $630.37.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays reaffirmed a Buy on MSFT and kept a high $610 price target, signaling strong analyst conviction about upside from AI and cloud exposure — a line of support for the stock amid recent weakness. Microsoft receives a buy rating from Barclays
• Positive Sentiment: Wikipedia signed licensing deals with Microsoft and other big tech firms — this expands Microsoft’s access to high-quality training data and reduces content friction for AI services, supporting Azure/Copilot product differentiation. Wikipedia signs AI licensing deals
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and industry write-ups emphasize Azure’s multi-model AI infrastructure and enterprise traction, reinforcing the revenue growth narrative that underpins Microsoft’s premium valuation. Will MSFT stock climb as Azure AI gains traction?
• Positive Sentiment: Surveys and analyst commentary (Morgan Stanley / CIO surveys) continue to highlight Microsoft’s leadership in generative AI and enterprise cloud, supporting longer-term upside expectations even as the stock cools. CIO survey highlights MSFT leadership
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft rolled out a “community-first” plan for U.S. AI datacenter buildout — a strategic PR and regulatory move intended to ease local opposition and long-term buildout risk; it’s constructive but not an immediate revenue driver. Microsoft unveils community-first plan
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings (fiscal Q2 results due Jan. 28) are a near-term catalyst — could amplify moves in either direction depending on Azure AI growth metrics and margin commentary. Why Jan. 28 could be big for investors
• Negative Sentiment: Switzerland’s competition authority opened a preliminary inquiry into Microsoft’s licensing fees after complaints about price hikes for Microsoft 365 — potential regulatory action could pressure product pricing and margins in Europe. Swiss probe into licensing fees
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft’s annual spend on Anthropic approaches ~$500M raise concerns about rising third‑party AI model costs and margin pressure for AI features (a strategic bet but one that increases operating expense). Anthropic spending nears $500M
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft agreed to a record purchase of soil carbon credits to offset data‑center emissions — a meaningful one‑time ESG cost and a sign of mounting operational expenses tied to AI growth (positive for ESG but a near-term cash outlay). Record soil carbon credit deal

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $456.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $484.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $502.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

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).

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