Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its Microsoft stake by 1.3%, selling 45,657 shares in Q4 and now holds 3,442,207 shares worth about $1.6279 billion, making MSFT its largest position (≈2.6% of holdings).
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a target near $588.97 after several firms lowered price targets, while investor concerns about higher AI capex, competition and senior departures are pressuring sentiment.
• Microsoft beat quarterly estimates (EPS $4.14 vs. $3.86; revenue $81.27B) and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 (annualized $3.64, ~1.0% yield).

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,442,207 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 45,657 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.6% of Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,627,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded marketing tie-up with Publicis strengthens Microsoft’s positioning in AI-driven advertising and marketing workflows, supporting revenue potential outside core cloud products. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is rolling out enterprise AI infrastructure and governance (Agent 365 launch partners like Reply), which helps convert enterprise demand for managed AI agents into repeatable revenue. This is a strategic enterprise sales lever for Azure and services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: M12-backed RAAPID investment (healthcare AI) highlights Microsoft’s ecosystem play and could widen Azure/Microsoft Health adoption in a regulated vertical. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s large backlog / remaining performance obligations (RPO) — cited above $625B in coverage — gives revenue visibility that could offset short-term margin pressure from capex. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming April earnings release date (Q3 FY26) focuses investors on guidance and capex cadence — a scheduled catalyst that could swing sentiment either way. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market concerns about sharply higher capital expenditures for AI infrastructure and faster-than-expected competition (Google/Anthropic) are pressuring margins and valuation multiples. Coverage highlights a “Copilot code red” overhaul and investor fear that AI buildout costs will persist. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Wave of senior departures raises execution and talent-retention concerns at a sensitive time for product rollouts. Investor nervousness on leadership stability amplifies sell-pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech sell-off, geopolitical risk (Middle East) and headlines about developer/service disruptions (e.g., VeraCrypt account lock) are worsening sentiment and liquidity for big-cap tech stocks like MSFT. Read More. • Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microsoft from $660.00 to $635.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $588.97.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $373.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $355.67 and a 1-year 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. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $393.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $459.09.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for 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%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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).

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