EHP Funds Inc. Purchases New Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• EHP Funds Inc. acquired a new position of 4,301 Microsoft shares in Q3 worth about $2.23 million, making MSFT 2.0% of its portfolio and its 5th-largest holding.
• Analysts remain broadly positive—MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $591.95, though individual price targets and ratings range from Hold to Outperform/Buy.
• Insider activity was mixed: EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares for roughly $5.05 million (avg $409.52), while director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares at about $397.35.

EHP Funds Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,301 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,228,000. Microsoft accounts for 2.0% of EHP Funds Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "hold" rating and set a $392.00 price target (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, February 5th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lowered their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $591.95.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was 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.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft has a near-term product catalyst: a $99/month AI tools bundle (includes Copilot capabilities) with a May 1 launch that could drive commercial adoption and recurring ARR growth. Microsoft Is Racing to Beat Claude Cowork. A Big Catalyst for MSFT Stock Is Coming May 1.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding into healthcare AI with Copilot Health (can read medical records and provide personalized insights) and partner integrations, opening a large vertical market and cross‑sell opportunities for Azure and Copilot. Microsoft launched a new healthcare chatbot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft 365 E7 bundles Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude Cowork and security tools — a premium enterprise offering that can lift average revenue per user for large customers. Analysts continue to highlight AI-driven revenue upside. Microsoft’s New E7 AI Suite And Healthcare Push Shape Long-Term Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox/product cycle news: Microsoft is advancing Project Helix (next‑gen Xbox) but prototypes won’t reach developers until 2027 — positive for long-term console moat but not an immediate revenue driver. Microsoft’s Next Xbox Moves Closer to Reality: What It Means for MSFT Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Gaming/graphics tech progress (DirectX/advanced shader delivery with NVIDIA/Intel) reduces frictions for PC gaming and helps Xbox/Windows gaming competitiveness but is a more gradual, longer-term tailwind. DirectX Gears Up For ML Era On Windows
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about huge AI data‑center capex and public pushback over electricity/costs is weighing on the stock; large lease and buildouts boost growth but increase near‑term cash burn. Who is really footing the AI energy bill? Inside the debate about data center electricity costs
• Negative Sentiment: Security scare: reports of a new vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator have spooked investors and triggered selling pressure tied to identity/security risk. New Vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator Sends Microsoft Stock Sliding
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership change: Rajesh Jha, a long‑time head of experiences and devices (Office/Copilot products), announced retirement — creates short‑term execution/transition uncertainty. Microsoft's Rajesh Jha, head of experiences and devices unit, to retire
• Negative Sentiment: Options and flows show increased demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), reflecting trader caution after the pullback. Option traders moderately bearish in Microsoft with shareslittle changed

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $395.55 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 stock has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $427.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $476.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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).

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