Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Boosted by Annex Advisory Services LLC

Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 34.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,014 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 41,708 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of Annex Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Annex Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $78,837,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Microsoft to $502.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $559.50.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

MSFT opened at $411.29 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $395.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $446.73. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.72 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Massive commercial backlog — Microsoft’s order book was highlighted as roughly $627 billion, underscoring multi-year revenue visibility from cloud and AI customers. Microsoft's $627 Billion Order Book Is Bigger Than ...
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish analyst move — Arete Research lifted its price target dramatically to $870 and kept a Buy stance, a strong signal to growth-oriented investors that upside is still being priced in by some brokers. Arete Research Adjusts Price Target on Microsoft to $870 ...
• Positive Sentiment: Product commercialization — Microsoft moved Agent 365 (AI agent management) out of preview to general availability, signaling commercialization of enterprise AI governance tools that can drive SaaS and services revenue. Microsoft takes Agent 365 out of preview ...
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism from backlog growth — Some analysts point to nearly 100% backlog growth and suggest material upside (~41% median upside from some coverage), which supports a longer-term bull case. Analysts See 41% Upside for Microsoft Stock ...
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street support — Multiple firms (Jefferies, RBC, Scotiabank) have reiterated Buy/Outperform views or updated targets after the quarter, keeping institutional demand intact. Jefferies reiterates its buy rating ...
• Neutral Sentiment: U.S. government AI reviews — Microsoft agreed to give U.S. agencies early access to unreleased models for security testing alongside Google and xAI; this reduces deployment surprises but increases regulatory oversight. What we know about US stress tests of Google, xAI and Microsoft AI models
• Neutral Sentiment: Workforce moves — Microsoft launched a major voluntary buyout program to cut costs; that should lower near-term expense run-rate but risks losing experienced talent. Microsoft Just Launched a Major Voluntary Buyout ...
• Negative Sentiment: Huge capex and margin pressure — Microsoft’s 2026 capex guidance (~$190B) is materially above expectations (cited ~23% higher), with rising memory prices weighing on gross margins and fueling investor worries about near-term ROI. Microsoft's Capex Spending for 2026 Is 23% Higher ...
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism and narrative risk — High-profile skeptics (e.g., Jim Cramer) and commentary that the market is “pricing AI costs not AI returns” are keeping sentiment fragile after the recent earnings reaction. Jim Cramer Isn’t a Fan of Microsoft After Rough Quarter ...
• Negative Sentiment: Product/segment weakness — Xbox leadership overhaul follows several quarters of soft console sales, flagging at least one consumer revenue stream that needs fixing. Microsoft Xbox CEO overhauls leadership amid sinking sales

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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