Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Milestone Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Milestone Asset Management boosted its Microsoft stake by 174.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 14,673 additional shares and bringing its total to 23,097 shares valued at about $11.17 million.
• Microsoft continues to see strong institutional and analyst support, with hedge funds adding positions and Wall Street maintaining a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target price of $560.88.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $4.27 EPS on $82.89 billion in revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share payable on June 11.

Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 174.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 14,673 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.1% of Milestone Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Milestone Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The OpenAI lawsuit defeat for Elon Musk clears a major legal overhang and is seen as helping Microsoft’s AI ecosystem and partner exposure. Musk loses blockbuster OpenAI suit as jury says too late
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a new, large Microsoft stake, reinforcing the view that some major investors see MSFT as undervalued relative to its AI growth prospects. MSFT Stock Alert: What to Know as Bill Ackman Adds Microsoft Position
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators highlighted Microsoft as a beneficiary of enterprise AI adoption, with Azure and Copilot demand still driving the long-term growth story. Microsoft Rides on Enterprise AI Advancements: More Upside Ahead?
• Neutral Sentiment: Several fund updates showed mixed institutional activity, including notable purchases and trims, which points to continued debate over Microsoft’s near-term valuation rather than a clear change in fundamentals. Pershing Square boosts Microsoft stake with 5.65M shares
• Negative Sentiment: Some headlines flagged potential pressure points, including worries that GitHub AI competition is intensifying and that higher AI infrastructure spending could weigh on margins. Microsoft (MSFT) Faces GitHub AI Crisis as OpenAI’s Codex and Rivals Catch Up

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $423.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $398.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $439.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month 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.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company 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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