<div id="readability-page-1"><p>Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC trimmed its position in  Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 314,879 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,549 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up  about  3.2% of Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $163,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.</p><ul><li>Microsoft May Look Pricey, But Customers Can’t Walk Away</li></ul><p>Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in  Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period.  Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of  Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000.  Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of  Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter.  University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in  Microsoft during the second quarter worth $50,000.  Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in  Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own  71.13% of the company's stock. </p><h2>Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft</h2><p>In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. Corporate insiders own  0.03% of the company's stock. </p><h2>Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades</h2><ul><li>Broadcom Just Raised Its Dividend—But It’s Not the Only One Signaling Strength</li></ul><p>MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a &#34;buy&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an &#34;outperform&#34; rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Microsoft from $682.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a &#34;buy&#34; rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Melius Research upped their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings  reaffirmed a &#34;buy (b)&#34; rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued  a Buy rating and four have issued  a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of &#34;Moderate Buy&#34; and a consensus target price of $631.03.</p><p><b>View Our Latest Report on Microsoft</b></p><h2>Trending Headlines about Microsoft</h2><ul><li>Is the AI Boom a Bubble? These 2 Dividend Stocks Say No</li></ul><p>Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:</p><ul>   <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Wedbush’s Dan Ives reiterates an Outperform view and calls MSFT a “compelling” buy for 2026, setting a $625 price target and forecasting nearly 30% upside — a strong buy-side catalyst. <i></i><span>This Dividend‑Yielding Tech Stock Looks a ‘Compelling Buy’ for 2026 After 2 Years of Underperformance</span></li>    <li><span>Positive Sentiment: </span>Evercore and other firms have named Microsoft a top software pick for 2026; broad analyst bullishness (many high price targets and “Overweight/Outperform” ratings) underpins upside expectations tied to Azure and AI. <i></i><span>Microsoft, Salesforce Lead Evercore's 2026 Picks</span></li>    <li><span>Neutral Sentiment: </span>OpenAI — backed by Microsoft — is reportedly closer to showing ads in ChatGPT; this could create a new monetization path (positive long term) but also raises questions about product positioning and partnership dynamics. <i></i><span>OpenAI Is Getting Closer to Showing Ads on ChatGPT</span></li>    <li><span>Neutral Sentiment: </span>Social and data‑driven commentary highlights strong AI/Azure growth (Azure &gt;30% YoY cited) as the bull case, while also flagging very large FY capex (~$80B) that could pressure margins if AI monetization lags. Mixed signals for investors. <i></i><span>Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Opinions on AI and Cloud Growth</span></li>    <li><span>Neutral Sentiment: </span>Marketbeat’s write‑up notes MSFT’s durable enterprise moat (Office/Azure switching costs) but calls valuation rich to some investors and highlights a consolidation around key technical levels — a mixed but stabilizing narrative. <i></i><span>Microsoft May Look Pricey, But Customers Can’t Walk Away</span></li>    <li><span>Negative Sentiment: </span>Insider selling has been heavy recently (multiple senior executives sold shares in the past six months); that activity can weigh on sentiment even if sales are routine portfolio moves. <i></i><span>Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Opinions on AI and Cloud Growth</span></li>    <li><span>Negative Sentiment: </span>Short interest and bearish flows have been cited as a drag on the shares in recent weeks; elevated short interest increases downside volatility around any disappointing AI/earnings headlines. <i></i><span>Microsoft May Look Pricey, But Customers Can’t Walk Away</span></li>    <li><span>Negative Sentiment: </span>Policy/hiring risk: the Trump administration’s overhaul of H‑1B allocation (prioritizing higher‑paid/skilled registrants) and prior new visa fees could raise hiring costs or complicate talent access for large cloud/AI employers like Microsoft. <i></i><span>Trump administration moves to overhaul how H‑1B visas are granted, ending lottery system</span></li> </ul><h2>Microsoft Price Performance</h2><p>MSFT stock opened at $487.61 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $498.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $503.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. </p><p>Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year.  On average, sell-side analysts expect that  Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. </p><h2>Microsoft Dividend Announcement</h2><p>The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.89%. </p><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>Featured Stories</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Microsoft</li><li>Do not delete, read immediately</li><li>INVESTOR ALERT: Tiny “$3 AI Wonder Stock” on the Verge of Blasting Off</li><li>Can Any Expenses Be Deducted From Capital Gains Tax?</li><li>Buffett, Gates and Bezos Quietly Dumping Stocks—Here's Why</li><li>Forget AI, This Will Be the Next Big Tech Breakthrough</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>

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<p>Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in Q3, selling 4,549 shares. Microsoft remains its 8th largest holding, valued at $163 million. Insider sales include EVP Takeshi Numoto and CEO Judson Althoff, totaling over $27 million. Analysts have mixed ratings, with a consensus target price of $631.03. Positive sentiment from analysts like Dan Ives and Evercore suggests strong future performance, particularly in AI and Azure sectors.</p>

- Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.4%, owning 314,879 shares valued at $163,091,000 after a sale of 4,549 shares.  
- Multiple hedge funds adjusted their positions in Microsoft, with notable increases by Longfellow Investment Management and Westend Capital Management.  
- Microsoft reported strong quarterly earnings, exceeding expectations with $4.13 per share and $77.67 billion in revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

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Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Sold by Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC