Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Position Boosted by Nikulski Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Nikulski Financial Inc. boosted its Microsoft stake by 22.9% in Q4 to 28,197 shares (worth $13.64M), making MSFT about 3.3% of its portfolio and its 5th-largest position.
• Microsoft beat expectations in its most recent quarter with $4.14 EPS vs. $3.86 consensus and $81.27B in revenue (up 16.7% YoY), and Wall Street shows a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average price target near $586.
• Microsoft declared a $0.91 quarterly dividend (annualized $3.64, ~1.0% yield; ex-dividend May 21, payable June 11), and institutional investors own roughly 71.13% of the company.

Nikulski Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,197 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 5,251 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.3% of Nikulski Financial Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Nikulski Financial Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

More Microsoft News

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

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

MSFT stock opened at $370.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $355.67 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $392.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $457.74.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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 payout ratio is 22.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $586.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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).

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