Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Grows Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in Q4 to 229,603 shares (about $111.04 million), representing roughly 2.0% of its portfolio and its 12th-largest holding.
• Insider activity: EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares at an average $409.52 (~$5.05M), cutting her stake by 8.2%, while Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares at $397.35 (~$1.99M).
• Microsoft topped Q earnings and revenue (EPS $4.14 vs. $3.86; revenue $81.27B vs. $80.28B, +16.7% year-over-year), announced a $0.91 quarterly dividend (annual $3.64, ~1.0% yield), and holds a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $586.26 despite recent target cuts.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 229,603 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,251 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.0% of Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $111,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $370.87 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $392.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $457.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market cap of $2.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. 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 data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas analyst reiterates confidence that Azure can still “crush estimates” despite investor worries about $150B+ AI spending, arguing Microsoft is on a “war footing” (Copilot overhaul) that supports continued cloud revenue upside. Microsoft Azure Still Poised To Crush Estimates Despite $150 Billion Spending Fears: Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Analysis pieces argue recent sell‑off may be overdone — framing capex concerns as temporary and highlighting MSFT’s long‑term edge in agentic AI, custom silicon and enterprise suites. This supports the bull case for patient investors. Microsoft: Temporary CapEx Panic Masks The Long-Term Edge
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s ecosystem continues to show incremental wins—third‑party offerings landing in the Microsoft Marketplace and M12 (Microsoft’s venture arm) participating in industry deals—helping sustain commercial momentum. A2A Protocol / Marketplace Adoption
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI’s large‑scale monetization plans (reported ad revenue ambitions) could alter the AI market structure; MSFT’s exposure to OpenAI is material, but implications are mixed for Microsoft’s direct revenue and strategic posture. How OpenAI's Reported Ad Plans Could Change the AI Business Model
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft confirmed its Q3 earnings release date (April 29) — a near‑term catalyst that could amplify moves if results or guidance deviate from expectations. Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date
• Negative Sentiment: Product execution concerns surfaced as reports note Copilot UI changes and some institutional customers favoring Anthropic’s Claude — signs of competitive pressure and potential customer churn in AI assistant adoption. Microsoft's Copilot 'Feels Like Teams:' Why This Fund Manager Is Swapping It For Claude
• Negative Sentiment: Industry reports point to real‑world constraints (land, power, permits) forcing hyperscalers to delay or scrap data center projects — a direct challenge to MSFT’s ability to scale cloud capacity quickly without steep incremental costs. While Amazon, Microsoft, Google Struggle With AI On Land — China Looks To The Sea
• Negative Sentiment: Macro and sector weakness: new console sales data and broader software slump headlines have pressured MSFT shares alongside peers, and at least one large investor disclosed trimming a Microsoft stake. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft Stocks All Fall on New Video Game Console Sales Data

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two research 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $586.26.

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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