Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Childress Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its Microsoft stake 8.9% in Q4 to 35,806 shares (≈$17.32M), making MSFT about 2.8% of its portfolio and its eighth-largest holding.
• Microsoft beat the quarter — EPS $4.27 vs. $4.06 and revenue $82.89B (up 18.3% YoY) — and has a MarketBeat consensus of a Moderate Buy with a $562.44 price target.
• Analyst and market sentiment is mixed: strong AI/cloud momentum and some price-target raises support upside, while higher capex, potential delays to the 2030 clean‑energy goal and competitive/regulatory headwinds present near-term risks.

Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,806 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,916 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.8% of Childress Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Childress Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,625,098 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,720,410,000 after purchasing an additional 156,016 shares during the last quarter. Second Half Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Second Half Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,913 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych raised its stake in Microsoft by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 24,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,921,000 after purchasing an additional 6,250 shares during the last quarter. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC now owns 30,971 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,978,000 after purchasing an additional 11,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adelphi Trust Co acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $7,584,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 9th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, New Street Research reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $562.44.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $414.10 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $396.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $446.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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 stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 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: Recent results and AI/cloud momentum: Microsoft reported another quarter of strong cloud and AI-driven revenue growth (Q3 revenue up ~18%) and continued order‑book strength — underpinning the bull case for durable top-line expansion. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst lift: Some firms have raised targets (Arete bumped its target sharply), signaling that a portion of Wall Street sees upside from MSFT’s AI investments despite the pullback. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Xbox cost/strategy move: Xbox leadership stopped development of the console Copilot project — a move investors interpreted as removing a costly distraction and focusing resources on higher‑return AI/cloud work. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Government AI oversight: Microsoft agreed to give U.S. agencies early access to new models for national‑security testing — reduces regulatory uncertainty but also adds compliance scrutiny. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce buyouts announced: The company launched a major voluntary buyout program — lowers near‑term opex but risks losing institutional knowledge that could matter for complex AI projects. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Clean‑energy target under review: Reports say Microsoft may delay or abandon its hourly 2030 clean‑energy matching goal because rapid AI data‑center growth is increasing power demand — this raises potential operating costs, reputational risk and regulatory scrutiny. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher capex and margin pressure: Microsoft’s 2026 capex plan has risen sharply (reports ~23% above expectations, large multiyear AI/data‑center spending) — supports growth but increases near‑term cash outflows and could compress margins. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive/regulatory headwinds: Pentagon awarded a $500M AI contract to a Meta‑backed Scale AI, and other competitors are landing meaningful deals — reminders that Microsoft faces fast‑moving competition for AI infrastructure and government business. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst notes and trims: Some boutiques trimmed price targets despite beats, reflecting concerns that the market is pricing in AI costs rather than returns; this keeps downward pressure from more cautious investors. Read More.

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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