MQS Management LLC Purchases Shares of 1,378 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• MQS Management LLC opened a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter, buying 1,378 shares worth about $510,000. The filing comes amid continued heavy institutional ownership of Microsoft, which stands at 71.13%.
• Microsoft’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $82.89 billion, both above estimates. Revenue rose 18.3% year over year, highlighting ongoing business strength.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive despite some target-price cuts: analysts still show an average Moderate Buy rating with a consensus target of $559.84. Microsoft is also facing some headline risks, including a securities fraud class action related to AI/Copilot claims and ongoing concerns about AI spending and customer cost-cutting.

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,378 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ferguson Shapiro LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Ferguson Shapiro LLC now owns 3,905 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,445,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. SMART Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% during the first quarter. SMART Wealth LLC now owns 4,086 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 8.6% in the first quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 8,820 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the period. Manchester Financial Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. now owns 12,107 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 7.4% in the first quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC now owns 7,120 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,636,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 price target (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, May 4th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $559.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $385.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $402.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $414.58. 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 announced 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Microsoft Company 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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