Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. Has $27.43 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,955 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,198 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.9% of Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $478.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $488.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $503.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft launched “agentic” AI tools aimed at retailers to automate merchandising, marketing, store ops and fulfillment — a product push that supports faster monetization of Copilot/AI capabilities. Microsoft Introduces Agentic AI Solutions for Retailers
• Positive Sentiment: PayPal agreed to power checkout inside Microsoft’s Copilot experience — a commercial integration that could accelerate Copilot monetization and drive ecosystem stickiness for commerce use cases. PayPal Teams With Microsoft to Power Checkout in Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Fiserv partnered with Microsoft to embed AI across its platforms — another enterprise deal that expands Azure usage and indicates demand from financial services for Microsoft’s cloud/AI stack. Fiserv Teams With Microsoft to Expand AI Use
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Jefferies reiterated a Buy with a $675 target and consensus price targets point to meaningful upside, reinforcing investor expectations for strong AI-driven revenue growth. Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI Strategy Reinforces Its Position as a Long-Term Winner, Analyst Says
• Neutral Sentiment: Market previews and earnings calendar items keep attention on upcoming results — analysts expect continued double‑digit growth, making the next earnings print the near-term catalyst to validate AI monetization. Microsoft Earnings Preview: What to Expect
• Negative Sentiment: Rumors of large job cuts circulated (and were publicly denied), creating trading noise and prompting short-term selling despite the company’s statement pushing back on the claims. “100 Percent Made Up”: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slips in Response to Layoff Rumors
• Negative Sentiment: Local opposition to a proposed Microsoft data center in Michigan and related controversy add reputational/ permitting risk in the near term for expansion plans. Microsoft revealed as company behind controversial data center proposal in Michigan township
• Negative Sentiment: Legal headlines around OpenAI (where Microsoft is a key partner/investor) — a lawsuit moving forward to trial — represent an external regulatory/legal risk that investors are watching. Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Accusing ChatGPT-Maker OpenAI Of Betraying Its Nonprofit Mission Can Go To Trial, Judge Rules

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $500.00 target price (down from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Melius Research lifted their price target on Microsoft from $595.00 to $625.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim set a $675.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $630.11.

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).