ASL Financial LLC Acquires New Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• ASL Financial LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft, acquiring 3,903 shares valued at roughly $1.89 million in Q4, making MSFT 1.5% of ASL's holdings and its 17th largest position.
• Microsoft posted a quarterly beat with EPS of $4.14 vs. $3.86 expected and revenue of $81.27 billion, up 16.7% year‑over‑year.
• Several large institutions (including Norges Bank, Nuveen, UBS and Northern Trust) recently added or increased positions, and institutions now own approximately 71.13% of Microsoft stock.

ASL Financial LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,903 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,888,000. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of ASL Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after buying an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after buying an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $420.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $391.43 and a 200 day moving average of $455.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $355.67 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for 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%.Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. HSBC lowered their price target on Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. New Street Research increased their price target on Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $577.58.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Historic multi‑day rally and an “extreme bounce” vs. options pricing — momentum traders are piling in after an unusually large short‑term rebound that options markets hadn’t priced. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: New commercial wins and partnerships widen enterprise AI reach — a five‑year strategic AI, cybersecurity and cloud deal with Stellantis expands Microsoft’s addressable market in automotive software and services. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure buildouts support product adoption — Microsoft secured spare capacity at a Norway data center originally tied to OpenAI (adding large GPU capacity) and an early online Fairweather data center, strengthening Azure’s AI compute supply. Read More. • Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street support remains — TD Cowen reiterated a Buy with a $540 target (still below prior $610 target) and other analysts continue to see long‑term AI/cloud upside, giving investors conviction to buy the dip. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Government adoption of Microsoft AI tools (CFTC surveillance) highlights public‑sector demand but is unlikely to move near‑term revenue materially — reflects platform credibility more than a big immediate revenue boost. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Heavy options and unusual volume are amplifying moves — some of the price action reflects positioning and technical dynamics rather than fundamental news. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competition and product risk — reports that Anthropic/OpenAI moves and new models (Claude Mythos) could pressure Copilot adoption raise execution and competitive risk for Microsoft’s AI offerings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution and valuation headwinds — some firms recently cut price targets (Piper Sandler, Robert W. Baird, etc.) and investors remain concerned about heavy AI capex (data‑center spending) weighing on near‑term returns. Read More. • Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/ESG noise — the NYT piece on Microsoft scaling back carbon‑removal commitments could prompt criticism and potential impairments or higher scrutiny. Read More.

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).

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