Prosperity Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,423 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $688,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.6% of Prosperity Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in 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 stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft Trading Down 1.1%
NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.46 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $395.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $448.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.04 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.30 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.Microsoft's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.76%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. HSBC upped their price target on Microsoft from $588.00 to $593.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp cut their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Microsoft from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $563.72.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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: Q3 EPS beat and revenue roughly in line — Microsoft reported $4.27 EPS, ahead of consensus, and revenue near Street expectations, which helped validate the company’s growth trajectory. Microsoft (MSFT) Beats Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
- Positive Sentiment: Azure / Intelligent Cloud acceleration: management said cloud growth accelerated (company commentary and charts show mid-to-high‑30s/40% growth in Azure), easing investor worries that AI spending isn’t yet translating to demand. Microsoft tops Wall Street expectations, reports accelerating Azure growth and $37B AI run rate
- Positive Sentiment: Copilot adoption and monetization showing traction — Microsoft reported over 20M paid Copilot users with rising engagement, supporting future software/recurring-revenue upside. Microsoft says it has over 20M paid Copilot users
- Neutral Sentiment: Guidance roughly in line — Q4 revenue guidance was near consensus, so the company isn’t signaling an immediate downshift, but investors will watch next‑quarter detail for AI margin leverage. Press release / slide deck
- Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn AI products on revenue track — Microsoft said LinkedIn hiring agents could reach ~$450M in annual revenue, a niche but tangible AI monetization path. LinkedIn's AI hiring agents on track for $450 million
- Negative Sentiment: CapEx surge and margin pressure — disclosures and third‑party summaries show capex rose sharply (large spend on data centers/AI hardware), which squeezes near‑term margins and fuels investor concern about ROI timing. Q3 earnings: capex surges (Quiver)
- Negative Sentiment: Partnership & competitive noise — OpenAI’s revised terms (non‑exclusive distribution) and the broader partner shifts to rivals like Amazon raise strategic questions about Microsoft’s privileged access and cloud leverage. OpenAI-Microsoft exclusivity reset coverage
- Negative Sentiment: Workforce and restructuring signals — Microsoft expects headcount to decline and has offered voluntary buyouts; that reduces near‑term payroll but underscores cost pressures tied to the AI buildout. Microsoft expects headcount to decrease
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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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