Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by tru Independence LLC

Key Points

• tru Independence LLC raised its Microsoft stake by 14.3% in Q4 to 15,392 shares worth $7.44 million, making MSFT about 1.9% of the firm's portfolio and its 13th-largest holding.
• Microsoft beat expectations for the quarter with EPS of $4.14 versus $3.86 and revenue of $81.27 billion (up 16.7% year-over-year), and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 ($3.64 annualized, 0.8% yield).
• Strategic catalysts and risks include Accenture’s planned rollout of Copilot to ~743,000 employees (positive for Azure/Copilot monetization) while the end of exclusivity with OpenAI and availability of models on rival clouds raise competition and regulatory/legal concerns.

tru Independence LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,392 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.9% of tru Independence LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. tru Independence LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd 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 stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $429.25 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $394.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $448.82. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued 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 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Accenture will roll Copilot out to all ~743,000 employees, a large enterprise deployment that should accelerate Copilot monetization and Azure consumption. Accenture to roll out Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages and analysts reiterated buy/outperform ratings or raised targets (TD Cowen, HSBC, RBC, Barclays, Benchmark among them), signaling continued Wall Street support that helps limit downside after recent volatility. Analyst ratings update
• Positive Sentiment: Notable value buyer Michael Burry disclosed a new MSFT stake, a high‑profile contrarian buy that can attract other bargain hunters and provide technical support. Michael Burry buys MSFT
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft reports fiscal Q3 results after the close Wednesday; previews highlight Azure growth and Copilot monetization as the key levers — earnings could spark a sharp intraday move either way. Earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary urges a “reset” narrative: some strategists say the cloud / AI story remains intact but investors need clearer evidence of durable margin and revenue inflection from Copilot/Azure. MarketWatch reset note
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft agreed to stop paying OpenAI a revenue share and to make its IP license non‑exclusive — the change removes some strategic advantages, triggered an earlier share pullback and raises long‑term competitive uncertainty for Azure. Seeking Alpha on revenue share end
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI models began appearing on Amazon Bedrock and the updated pact allows hosting on rival clouds, increasing competition for AI workloads and data‑center demand away from Microsoft. OpenAI on Amazon Bedrock
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks are rising — the Musk v. Altman/OpenAI trial and EU moves to target cloud/AI competition could create headline risk and potential business constraints for Microsoft. EU rules on cloud/AI

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Melius Research set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $563.72.

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).

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.