Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Cut by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Microsoft (MSFT) by 2.7% in Q4, selling 58,348 shares and retaining 2,134,946 shares worth about $1.03 billion, which represents roughly 14.7% of Nisa's portfolio and is its fourth-largest holding.
• Several large institutions added to positions—Vanguard (+1.1% to ~691.4M shares), State Street (+1.1% to ~299.2M) and Northern Trust (+16.1% adding 11.6M shares) among others—leaving about 71.13% of MSFT owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $586.26; Microsoft also recently beat quarterly EPS ($4.14 vs. $3.86) and revenue ($81.27B) and declared a $0.91 quarterly dividend payable June 11.

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,134,946 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 58,348 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 14.7% of Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,032,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $586.26.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, 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 directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

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

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $370.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $392.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $457.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $355.67 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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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