Whittier Trust Co. Acquires 17,572 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 974,271 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,572 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.7% of Whittier Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $504,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 705,077,786 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $350,712,742,000 after purchasing an additional 13,691,572 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,823,341,000 after buying an additional 3,166,275 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $88,714,256,000 after buying an additional 3,532,054 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $398.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $453.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $489.29. The company has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.08. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft locked in a long-term revenue slice from OpenAI (20% through 2032), reinforcing a durable AI-related cash-flow stream that supports MSFT’s strategic growth thesis. Microsoft Locks In 20% Of OpenAI’s Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares (~$2M), a signal of management confidence that can support sentiment and attract value-oriented buyers. Insider Purchase: Director at $MSFT Buys 5,000 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Operational/ESG tailwind: Microsoft reaffirmed matching renewable-energy purchases for its electricity needs as it scales data centers — lowers regulatory/ESG risk for large customers and long-term investors. Microsoft to keep buying renewable energy
• Neutral Sentiment: Global expansion push: Microsoft announced plans to invest roughly $50B to expand AI access in the “Global South” — a major long-term market opportunity but one that implies heavy, multi-year capex before payback. Microsoft to invest $50B in Global South
• Neutral Sentiment: Partnership momentum: marketplace and partner integrations (e.g., CrowdStrike Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace) add enterprise stickiness and small incremental revenue streams rather than near-term earnings shocks. Falcon on Microsoft Marketplace
• Negative Sentiment: Sector rotation & profit-taking: MSFT has faced a post-earnings sell-off and large relative underperformance this year as some funds trim exposure to AI-related capex risk — downgrades and headline-driven selling amplify near-term volatility. Down 15% — Buy the Dip?
• Negative Sentiment: Product/AI risk headlines: reports of a Copilot/Office bug and broader “recommendation poisoning” concerns have raised short-term questions about AI safety and enterprise adoption speed. Those headlines can pressure sentiment while customers reassess deployments. New AI-Related Bug Does Not Dampen Microsoft Stock

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. HSBC dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Evercore lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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).