Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Raised by Hendershot Investments Inc.

Key Points

• Hendershot Investments Inc. increased its Microsoft stake by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 64,291 shares worth about $31.1 million. Microsoft is now the fund’s 7th largest position and makes up 4.0% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $4.27 per share and revenue of $82.89 billion, both ahead of expectations. Revenue rose 18.3% year over year, and analysts still expect full-year EPS of 16.76.
• Wall Street remains largely bullish on MSFT, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.69. At the same time, some analysts trimmed targets slightly as investors weigh strong AI/cloud growth against heavy spending and potential margin pressure.

Hendershot Investments Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,291 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.0% of Hendershot Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Hendershot Investments Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,314,509 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant's stock worth $148,823,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 179,001,751 shares of the software giant's stock worth $88,714,256,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532,054 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft continues to draw bullish analyst commentary, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming price targets after the company’s strong earnings beat and Azure growth, reinforcing the view that core business momentum remains solid.
• Positive Sentiment: New reports suggest Microsoft’s AI ecosystem is still gaining traction, including partner milestones tied to Copilot and AI cloud services, which supports the case for continued enterprise adoption.
• Positive Sentiment: Several hedge funds and asset managers have recently added to Microsoft positions, indicating that some large investors still view MSFT as a long-term AI and cloud leader.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft partnered with CAISI and AISI to advance AI model testing standards, a policy-and-safety focused update that may help its enterprise credibility but is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is considering adjustments to its renewable-energy targets and offering voluntary retirement packages reflect ongoing cost and infrastructure pressures, but these items are more strategic than immediately material to revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Market attention is centered on TCI’s reduced stake and the broader “AI anxiety” trade, with investors worried Microsoft may be spending heavily on AI infrastructure before the payoff becomes clearer.
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary also points to temporary margin pressure from elevated AI and data-center spending, which could weigh on near-term profitability even as growth remains strong.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $415.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week 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. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $396.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $445.39.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Bank of America started 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. Dbs Bank dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $562.69.

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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