Guardian Financial Partners LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Guardian Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 29.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,896 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Guardian Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Guardian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 564,387.1% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $18,733,827,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $14,905,904,000 after acquiring an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 13,691,572 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $486.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.63, a PEG ratio of 1.82 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’s fifty day moving average is $498.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $503.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business 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 company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore named Microsoft a top software pick for 2026, citing enterprise software strength and AI exposure—boosts investor confidence in MSFT’s secular growth story. Microsoft, Salesforce Lead Evercore’s 2026 Picks
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish calls (Wedbush/Dan Ives and others) forecast a big AI-driven revenue bump in 2026 and reaffirm outperform ratings and lofty price targets, supporting upward pressure on the stock. Microsoft Stock Has 29% Upside in 2026, Says Dan Ives
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s internal dev move to standardize code (shifting priorities among languages) is being framed as productivity and engineering efficiency wins that can lower costs and speed product delivery. C Out, Rust In: Microsoft Stock Gains With New Code Standardization Plan
• Positive Sentiment: Analyses arguing Microsoft could be a top AI beneficiary in 2026 (scale of Azure, Copilot integrations, data-center investment) underpin long-term upside expectations for enterprise cloud and AI revenue. Why Microsoft Could Be the Biggest AI Winner in 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Policy change: DHS is replacing the H?1B lottery with a weighted selection prioritizing higher-paid, skilled hires; Microsoft was a top recipient—this alters talent sourcing dynamics but the net impact on MSFT hiring/costs is ambiguous. Trump administration moves to overhaul H-1B visas
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/sector pieces positioning AI as the dominant 2026 investment theme keep Microsoft in investors’ watch lists but also raise expectations and scrutiny around capex and margin trade-offs. Three must-own stocks if AI spending will remain strong in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Execution concerns: reports that Satya Nadella pushed teams on Copilot progress and commentary that OpenAI ties may be a liability have raised questions about adoption, execution risk, and partnership complexity. These stories can pressure the stock despite bullish AI forecasts. Microsoft CEO Pushes Staff on Copilot Ambitions
• Negative Sentiment: Critical analysis warns of overbuilding (heavy AI capex) and OpenAI-related risks which could weigh on margins and capital intensity if revenue ramp is slower than expected. Microsoft: Not Immune To The Risk Of Overbuilding

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a “neutral” rating and set a $500.00 price objective (down previously from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. Two research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $631.03.

About Microsoft

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).