Diversified Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 13,144 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Diversified Management Inc. bought a new stake of 13,144 Microsoft shares valued at approximately $6.36 million, making MSFT 1.5% of its portfolio and its 16th largest holding.
• Major institutions (including Norges Bank, Nuveen, UBS AM, Laurel Wealth and Northern Trust) made very large purchases or increases in MSFT positions, leaving institutional investors with about 71.13% ownership of the company.
• Microsoft topped Q3 expectations with EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89 billion (up 18.3% YoY), announced a $0.91 quarterly dividend (0.9% yield), and recorded insider activity — EVP Kathleen Hogan sold 12,321 shares while Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares.

Diversified Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,144 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $6,357,000. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of Diversified Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $50,493,678,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at about $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 49,618,571 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 worth $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent results and AI/cloud momentum: Microsoft reported another quarter of strong cloud and AI-driven revenue growth (Q3 revenue up ~18%) and continued order‑book strength — underpinning the bull case for durable top-line expansion. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst lift: Some firms have raised targets (Arete bumped its target sharply), signaling that a portion of Wall Street sees upside from MSFT’s AI investments despite the pullback. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Xbox cost/strategy move: Xbox leadership stopped development of the console Copilot project — a move investors interpreted as removing a costly distraction and focusing resources on higher‑return AI/cloud work. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Government AI oversight: Microsoft agreed to give U.S. agencies early access to new models for national‑security testing — reduces regulatory uncertainty but also adds compliance scrutiny. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce buyouts announced: The company launched a major voluntary buyout program — lowers near‑term opex but risks losing institutional knowledge that could matter for complex AI projects. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Clean‑energy target under review: Reports say Microsoft may delay or abandon its hourly 2030 clean‑energy matching goal because rapid AI data‑center growth is increasing power demand — this raises potential operating costs, reputational risk and regulatory scrutiny. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher capex and margin pressure: Microsoft’s 2026 capex plan has risen sharply (reports ~23% above expectations, large multiyear AI/data‑center spending) — supports growth but increases near‑term cash outflows and could compress margins. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive/regulatory headwinds: Pentagon awarded a $500M AI contract to a Meta‑backed Scale AI, and other competitors are landing meaningful deals — reminders that Microsoft faces fast‑moving competition for AI infrastructure and government business. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst notes and trims: Some boutiques trimmed price targets despite beats, reflecting concerns that the market is pricing in AI costs rather than returns; this keeps downward pressure from more cautious investors. Read More.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $414.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The business's 50-day moving average is $396.15 and its 200 day moving average is $446.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Arete Research increased their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, New Street Research cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $562.44.

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.