McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• McLaughlin Asset Management opened a new Microsoft position in Q4, buying 8,329 shares valued at about $4.03 million. Microsoft now represents 3.6% of the firm’s portfolio and is its fourth-largest holding.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $4.27 per share topping estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. Analysts still expect the company to earn 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The stock remains widely supported by institutions and Wall Street: institutional investors own 71.13% of shares, and analysts rate Microsoft a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $561.20. Microsoft also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable September 10.

McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,329 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,028,000. Microsoft makes up 3.6% of McLaughlin Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $347,211,391,000 after acquiring an additional 15,955,898 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $148,060,557,000 after purchasing an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $58,624,690,000 after purchasing an additional 980,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $50,664,631,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $379.40 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. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $412.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.58. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.11.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New reporting suggests Microsoft is still benefiting from strong AI demand, including ByteDance spending more than $1 billion annually on Azure AI services and broader commentary that Azure growth and AI run-rate remain major drivers of investor interest. Microsoft Builds $1 Billion-Plus AI Business With ByteDance
• Positive Sentiment: Several pieces argued Microsoft’s pullback may be creating a buying opportunity because the company still has strong cash flow, dividend growth, and discounted valuation relative to its AI prospects. Microsoft's Boring Stock Story May Be Its Biggest Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention for product and ecosystem updates, including a possible PayPal integration for Xbox buy-now-pay-later checkout and new Teams features, but these are not likely near-term stock movers. Microsoft Sizes Up PayPal as Xbox Leak Exposes Buy Now Pay Later Plans
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced or promoted securities class actions tied to Microsoft, alleging investors were harmed by misleading AI/Copilot-related statements during the May 2025 to January 2026 period. These legal headlines can weigh on sentiment. Portnoy Law Firm Announces Class Action on Behalf of Microsoft Corporation Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Another negative overhang is the claim that Copilot functionality issues contributed to a sharp stock drop, reinforcing investor concerns about execution risk and AI spending efficiency. Investor Rights Alert: Microsoft Faces Securities Fraud Class Action after Copilot Issues
• Negative Sentiment: There is also renewed concern that Microsoft’s gaming strategy is under pressure, with coverage pointing to the Steam Machine and broader cost-cutting in gaming as threats to growth in that segment. The Biggest Threat to Microsoft’s Gaming Ambitions is the Steam Machine

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. China Renaissance lowered their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $561.20.

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).

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.