UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Decreases Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Posted by Jeff Wilder on Feb 17th, 2026

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 7.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,552 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 11,691 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.5% of UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $80,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $401.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $458.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $491.45. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $392.00 price objective (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wedbush dropped their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.95.

Check Out Our Latest Report on MSFT

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Positive Sentiment: India’s Adani Group announced a plan to invest $100 billion in renewable, AI‑ready data centers as part of a strategic partnership involving Google and Microsoft — a potential long‑term source of Azure demand and international cloud expansion. India’s Adani Group To Invest $100 Billion In AI Data Centers
Positive Sentiment: Microsoft appears on multiple “best AI stocks” and AI‑ETF lists, highlighting GitHub Copilot revenue and accelerating Azure AI services — supportive narrative for re‑rating if execution continues. Best AI Stocks 2026: NVIDIA, Microsoft, Alphabet Top the List
Positive Sentiment: Some funds are adding to positions (Maverick Capital boosted its MSFT stake), signaling institutional conviction despite the recent pullback. Maverick Capital Ltd Boosts Microsoft Stake
Neutral Sentiment: Zillow launched a fun “Zillow for Warcraft” microsite tied to Blizzard’s player housing — a marketing/brand collaboration that’s interesting but unlikely to move MSFT fundamentals. Zillow launches Zillow for Warcraft
Negative Sentiment: Reports that OpenAI’s large compute commitments have rattled markets put pressure on Microsoft (and other cloud providers) amid fears of rising AI infrastructure costs or competitive obligations. OpenAI Backlog Shockwave
Negative Sentiment: Investors reacted to disclosure of a relatively small number of paying Copilot customers, which some read as slower-than-expected AI monetization and contributed to near‑term sentiment weakness. Why Microsoft’s Relatively Small Number of Paying Copilot Customers Could Be a Blessing
Negative Sentiment: Notable fund activity is mixed: Sands Capital trimmed about 394,869 MSFT shares, which can weigh on sentiment when covered by the market. Sands Capital Management Trims Microsoft Stake
Negative Sentiment: Analyst and media pieces note that while Microsoft’s earnings were solid, the stock has pulled back amid a broader software sell‑off, rising cloud infrastructure costs, and intensifying competition from AWS and Google Cloud. Investors Are Selling This AI Stock, but Is It Actually a Screaming Buy?

Microsoft Profile

(Free Report)

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).