Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Has $188.43 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Salem Investment Counselors trimmed its Microsoft stake by 2.2% to 389,632 shares, a holding worth $188.43 million that represents about 5.3% of the firm's portfolio and its fourth-largest position.
• Insider activity was mixed: Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares at $397.35, while EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares at $409.52, signaling divergent insider moves.
• Analyst sentiment is largely positive (MarketBeat consensus "Moderate Buy" with a target of $588.97), but Microsoft faces near-term headwinds from heavy AI spending, hiring freezes in some sales/cloud groups, and rising competitive risks.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 389,632 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,828 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.3% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $188,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second 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 last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $641.00 target price (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $500.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $588.97.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some Wall Street analysts still see large upside for MSFT, arguing the pullback may be overdone and presenting a buying opportunity for long‑term investors. Wall Street Says Microsoft Stock Has 89% Rebound Potential
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamental revenue drivers remain: LinkedIn ad growth and marketing solutions are cited as near‑term revenue positives that help offset AI spending concerns. Microsoft Benefits From LinkedIn Ad Growth: More Upside Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft has implemented targeted hiring freezes in major cloud and North American sales groups while keeping AI and engineering hiring active — a cost‑management move that highlights prioritization of AI infrastructure but leaves uncertainty over near‑term sales execution. Microsoft freezes hiring in major cloud, sales groups, The Information reports
• Neutral Sentiment: Infrastructure expansion continues: third‑party partner Crusoe announced a 900 MW AI campus in Abilene, Texas to support large‑scale workloads for Microsoft — this reinforces demand for hyperscale capacity even as investors debate ROI timing. Crusoe Announces New 900 MW AI Factory Campus in Abilene, Texas to Support Microsoft AI Infrastructure
• Negative Sentiment: Market narrative has flipped: analysts and commentary say Microsoft is “losing the AI narrative,” and technical indicators show the stock at decade‑low oversold levels — fueling momentum selling. Microsoft’s stock hasn’t been this oversold in a decade, with the tech giant ‘really losing the AI narrative’
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy AI capex and execution concerns: multiple reports highlight Microsoft’s very large AI spending (reports cite ~$30B per quarter-level scale), slowing Copilot adoption vs. expectations, and the stock is on track for its worst quarter since 2008 — pressuring valuations and near‑term sentiment. Microsoft Is Down 24% This Year While Spending $30B a Quarter on AI
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive and strategic risks are rising: OpenAI and other AI firms (including reports of Anthropic eyeing an IPO) are evolving relationships and competition that could reduce Microsoft’s exclusive leverage in parts of the AI stack. Anthropic eyes IPO, Microsoft stock set for worst quarter since 2008

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $356.77 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $409.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $467.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

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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