<div id="readability-page-1"><p>Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of  Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,736 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 7,978 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up  approximately  2.2% of Wedmont Private Capital's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in Microsoft were worth $59,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.</p><ul><li>Broadcom Just Raised Its Dividend—But It’s Not the Only One Signaling Strength</li></ul><p>Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in  Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $50,493,678,000.  Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in shares of  Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock worth $45,040,162,000 after buying an additional 90,533,328 shares during the period.  Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of  Microsoft in the first quarter worth approximately $18,733,827,000.  Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in  Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period.  Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in  Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $350,712,742,000 after acquiring an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. Institutional investors own  71.13% of the company's stock. </p><h2>Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%</h2><p>Microsoft stock opened at $485.92 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $499.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $503.29. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. </p><ul><li>Is the AI Boom a Bubble? These 2 Dividend Stocks Say No</li></ul><p>Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $75.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis.  On average, analysts forecast that  Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. </p><h2>Microsoft Dividend Announcement</h2><p>The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%. </p><h2>Insider Buying and Selling</h2><ul><li>MRVL, AMZN and MSFT: Breaking Down the Wall Street Controversy</li></ul><p>In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders. </p><h2>Wall Street Analyst Weigh In</h2><p>Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Mizuho downgraded Microsoft from a &#34;strong-buy&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. DA Davidson  reaffirmed a &#34;buy&#34; rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Oppenheimer  reissued an &#34;outperform&#34; rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Baird R W raised shares of Microsoft to a &#34;strong-buy&#34; rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an &#34;outperform&#34; rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned  a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of &#34;Moderate Buy&#34; and a consensus target price of $631.03.</p><p><b>Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft</b></p><h2>Key Microsoft News</h2><p>Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:</p><ul>   <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Wall Street upside calls and analyst coverage highlight large potential gains for MSFT, with consensus targets implying roughly 30%+ upside and &#34;Strong Buy&#34; sentiment that supports buyer interest. <i></i><span>Analysts See 33% Upside To Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)</span></li>    <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Dividend-growth stories emphasize MSFT's 15-year streak of hikes and long-term yield-on-cost benefits, reinforcing appeal to income and total-return investors despite a modest current yield. <i></i><span>Why Microsoft Is a Great Income Stock Despite a 0.77% Yield</span></li>    <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>AI tailwinds: coverage notes MSFT’s material exposure to OpenAI, rapid Azure demand for generative AI (Copilots) and new use cases (agentic AI in banking), supporting cloud revenue growth expectations. <i></i><span>AWS and Microsoft Present Agentic AI’s Banking Business Case</span></li>    <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Corporate partnerships and deal flow — including a reported multi-year agreement with Cognizant — bolster near-term enterprise cloud/service revenue visibility. <i></i><span>Microsoft and Cognizant announce a multi-year partnership</span></li>    <li><span>Neutral Sentiment: </span>Macro narratives and price-target pieces (e.g., $5T market-cap predictions and &#34;Magnificent Seven&#34; rankings) keep MSFT in focus; these are bullish in tone but depend on execution of AI investments. <i></i><span>Prediction: This Company Is All Set to Hit a $5 Trillion Market Cap in 2026</span></li>    <li><span>Negative Sentiment: </span>Gaming division weakness: reports that Xbox is losing the console race, plus recent layoffs, studio closures and price moves, raise concerns about near-term profitability and require strategic shifts. <i></i><span>Xbox is losing the console race by miles. It's part of Microsoft's big gaming pivot</span></li>    <li><span>Negative Sentiment: </span>Capital intensity warning: commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) note Microsoft &#34;requires mass spending&#34; to keep Azure competitive, which could pressure margins if spending outpaces revenue gains. <i></i><span>Jim Cramer Says Microsoft “Requires Mass Spending” to Keep Azure Competitive</span></li> </ul><h2>Microsoft Profile</h2> (Free Report)<p>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.  </p><p>Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).</p><h2>Further Reading</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Microsoft</li><li>Wall Street Stock picker Names #1 Stock of 2026</li><li>End of America update</li><li>They Laughed at $30. They Won’t Laugh at $70.</li><li>The McDonald's Secret</li><li>How Long Will $1M Last in Retirement?</li></ul><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9TVNGVA?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="650" height="350" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9TVNGVA"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Microsoft Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Microsoft currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

MSFT

MSFL

MSFO

MSFD

MSFU

MSFX

MSFY

<p>Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, purchasing an additional 7,978 shares. This brings their total holdings to 112,736 shares, valued at $59,072,000. Microsoft is Wedmont's 11th largest holding, making up 2.2% of their portfolio. Other institutional investors have also made significant investments in Microsoft recently. Microsoft's stock opened at $485.92 on Monday, with a market cap of $3.61 trillion.</p>

- Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.6%, owning 112,736 shares valued at $59 million as of the latest SEC filing.  
- Institutional investors now hold 71.13% of Microsoft, with other firms significantly increasing their shareholdings, including Norges Bank and Kingstone Capital.  
- Microsoft reported strong earnings of $4.13 per share, exceeding estimates, with a quarterly revenue of $77.67 billion, reflecting an 18.4% year-over-year increase.

Market Beat

Microsoft

GraniteShares 2x Long MSFT Daily ETF

YieldMax MSFT Option Income Strategy ETF

Direxion Daily MSFT Bear 1x Shares

Direxion Daily MSFT Bull 2X Shares

T-Rex 2X Long Microsoft Daily Target ETF

Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Microsoft MSFT ETF

Wedmont Private Capital Buys 7,978 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT