Lee Danner & Bass Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,316 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.3% of Lee Danner & Bass Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $46,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Trading Down 0.1%
NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $418.57 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $399.38 and a 200 day moving average of $437.48. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.67%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Dbs Bank lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, China Renaissance lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.88.
View Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft
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?
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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).
Featured Stories

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.
Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.
While Microsoft currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Market downturns give many investors pause, and for good reason. Wondering how to offset this risk? Click the link to learn more about using beta to protect your portfolio.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.