Elevated Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 3,420 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Elevated Financial Group LLC initiated a new position in Microsoft, buying 3,420 shares valued at about $1.65 million. The stake represents roughly 0.6% of its portfolio and ranks as its 28th-largest holding.
• Microsoft continues to draw strong institutional interest, with several hedge funds adding shares and 71.13% of the stock owned by institutions overall. Insider activity was mixed, as executives Kathleen T. Hogan and Amy Coleman recently sold shares.
• The company’s latest results were solid, with earnings of $4.27 per share and revenue of $82.89 billion, both ahead of expectations. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $560.88.

Elevated Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,420 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,654,000. Microsoft makes up about 0.6% of Elevated Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $49,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $418.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $399.38 and a 200 day moving average of $437.48. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $356.28 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis 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 presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Melius Research set a $430.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Monday, February 9th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft's AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft's GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

Microsoft 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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