Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 1,346 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,783 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,346 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.2% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 71.2% in the 3rd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Major private-market validation for the AI ecosystem could benefit Microsoft as a cloud and AI infrastructure provider — Anthropic’s new $380B valuation (which includes investments tied to Microsoft) signals strong enterprise demand for AI models and likely more backend cloud consumption. Anthropic Valuation Hits $380 Billion as Enterprise AI Demand Explodes
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reaffirmed a Buy on MSFT with a $635 price target — a bullish institutional view that supports the long‑term AI/cloud thesis despite recent sentiment-driven weakness. Microsoft: Buy Rating Reaffirmed on Undervalued AI and Cloud Growth Drivers Despite Sentiment-Driven Sell-Off
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is leading industry efforts on “digital trust” with other large tech firms (Trusted Tech Alliance), a reputational win that may ease enterprise sales cycles for security‑sensitive customers. Microsoft, Ericsson lead global tech alliance for digital trust
• Positive Sentiment: R&D/infra innovation: reports that Microsoft is exploring superconducting power lines for AI data centers point to potential long‑term efficiency gains and differentiation for its hyperscale buildout. Microsoft Explores Superconducting Power to Boost AI Data Centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft AI chief’s bold timeline for rapid white‑collar automation (12–18 months) fuels debate — it underscores market opportunity but also raises labor/regulatory concerns that could shape adoption rates. Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months — for all white-collar work to be automated by AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Market technicians and contrarian pieces argue MSFT looks oversold/potentially bottoming after the post‑earnings drop — these narratives can attract buyers, but timing is uncertain. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Price Forecast: Bottoming at Channel Support?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk increased today: the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has issued investigative demands and questioned Microsoft’s rivals about its AI/cloud licensing and business practices — this escalation is a clear near‑term negative catalyst. US FTC ramps up scrutiny of Microsoft over AI, cloud practices, questions rivals, Bloomberg reports
• Negative Sentiment: Investor rotation and positioning: several funds disclosed cuts to MSFT stakes this week, and commentary highlights investor concern over heavy CapEx for AI infrastructure and concentration risk tied to OpenAI—factors that have pressured the stock. PRIMECAP Management Co cuts Microsoft stake by 1.1M
• Negative Sentiment: Critics argue Microsoft has underperformed some AI peers and that capex intensity may strain free cash flow, reinforcing sentiment‑driven selling pressure. Microsoft Is Spending, Investors Are Losing

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $401.32 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $460.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $492.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

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).