Hegarty Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Hegarty Advisors LLC initiated a new Microsoft position in Q4, buying 1,694 shares valued at about $819,000. Microsoft now ranks as the firm’s 28th largest holding and makes up roughly 0.7% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft’s latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $4.27 versus $4.06 expected and revenue of $82.89 billion versus $81.44 billion expected. Revenue rose 18.3% year over year, and the company continues to post strong profitability.
• The stock has drawn continued institutional and analyst support, with 71.13% owned by institutions and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. Analysts’ average price target stands at $560.88, while Microsoft also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share.

Hegarty Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,694 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $819,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.7% of Hegarty Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,413 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 43,445 shares of the software giant's stock worth $21,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,570 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 55,056 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,626,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482 shares during the period. Finally, McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,088 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,264,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

MSFT stock opened at $418.57 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $356.28 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $399.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $437.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft News Summary

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?

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Arete Research increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 24th. President Capital increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. 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, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.88.

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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