Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Foster Victor Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% during Q4 to 72,446 shares, worth about $33.3 million and representing roughly 2.0% of the firm's holdings (its sixth-largest position).
• Insider activity was mixed: director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares at $397.35 (~$1.99M), raising his stake to 83,905 shares, while EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares for about $5.05M, cutting her holdings by 8.2%.
• Microsoft beat quarterly EPS expectations ($4.27 vs. $4.06) and has a massive ~$627 billion commercial backlog, but faces concerns over elevated 2026 capex (~$190B) and margin pressure; consensus analyst view is a Moderate Buy with a $559.50 price target.

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,446 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,157 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.0% of Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Massive commercial backlog — Microsoft’s order book was highlighted as roughly $627 billion, underscoring multi-year revenue visibility from cloud and AI customers. Microsoft's $627 Billion Order Book Is Bigger Than ...
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst move — Arete Research lifted its price target dramatically to $870 and kept a Buy stance, a strong signal to growth-oriented investors that upside is still being priced in by some brokers. Arete Research Adjusts Price Target on Microsoft to $870 ...
• Positive Sentiment: Product commercialization — Microsoft moved Agent 365 (AI agent management) out of preview to general availability, signaling commercialization of enterprise AI governance tools that can drive SaaS and services revenue. Microsoft takes Agent 365 out of preview ...
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism from backlog growth — Some analysts point to nearly 100% backlog growth and suggest material upside (~41% median upside from some coverage), which supports a longer-term bull case. Analysts See 41% Upside for Microsoft Stock ...
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street support — Multiple firms (Jefferies, RBC, Scotiabank) have reiterated Buy/Outperform views or updated targets after the quarter, keeping institutional demand intact. Jefferies reiterates its buy rating ...
• Neutral Sentiment: U.S. government AI reviews — Microsoft agreed to give U.S. agencies early access to unreleased models for security testing alongside Google and xAI; this reduces deployment surprises but increases regulatory oversight. What we know about US stress tests of Google, xAI and Microsoft AI models
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce moves — Microsoft launched a major voluntary buyout program to cut costs; that should lower near-term expense run-rate but risks losing experienced talent. Microsoft Just Launched a Major Voluntary Buyout ...
• Negative Sentiment: Huge capex and margin pressure — Microsoft’s 2026 capex guidance (~$190B) is materially above expectations (cited ~23% higher), with rising memory prices weighing on gross margins and fueling investor worries about near-term ROI. Microsoft's Capex Spending for 2026 Is 23% Higher ...
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism and narrative risk — High-profile skeptics (e.g., Jim Cramer) and commentary that the market is “pricing AI costs not AI returns” are keeping sentiment fragile after the recent earnings reaction. Jim Cramer Isn’t a Fan of Microsoft After Rough Quarter ...
• Negative Sentiment: Product/segment weakness — Xbox leadership overhaul follows several quarters of soft console sales, flagging at least one consumer revenue stream that needs fixing. Microsoft Xbox CEO overhauls leadership amid sinking sales

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were 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 $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft to $502.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $559.50.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

MSFT opened at $411.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $395.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $446.73.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its 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 business 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%.The firm's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

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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