Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Purchases 2,726 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 15.5% in Q4, buying 2,726 shares to hold 20,314 shares valued at $9.824 million, about 2.1% of the fund's portfolio and the firm's 11th largest position.
• Microsoft is making major strategic moves—committing roughly $5.5 billion to Singapore and $1 billion to Thailand for cloud/AI data centers and signing an exclusivity deal with Chevron and Engine No. 1 to secure ~2.5–5GW of power—strengthening long‑term Azure and enterprise AI revenue visibility amid mixed analyst sentiment and regulatory scrutiny.

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,314 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,726 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.1% of Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large Asia infrastructure commitments: Microsoft said it will invest about $5.5B in Singapore and $1B in Thailand to build cloud and AI data‑center capacity, strengthening long‑term revenue visibility for Azure and enterprise AI services. WSJ: Microsoft Plans to Invest $5.5 Billion in Singapore
• Positive Sentiment: Energy supply de‑risking for AI buildout: Microsoft entered an exclusivity deal with Chevron and Engine No. 1 to explore a ~2.5GW (potentially 5GW) gas‑powered complex in West Texas to power large data centers — a strategic move to secure power and reduce one key constraint on AI scaling. Reuters: Microsoft, Chevron and Engine No. 1 sign exclusive deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing and higher targets: Multiple firms initiated or raised coverage (Benchmark buy initiation, New Street target hike and other bullish notes), keeping a majority of analysts constructive and implying significant upside from current levels. This institutional support can cushion near‑term downside. Yahoo Finance: What Do Analysts Say About Microsoft?
• Neutral Sentiment: Governance and safety moves: Microsoft unveiled new AI tools (a “Critique and Council” approach) aimed at improving model oversight and trust — helpful for long‑term adoption but unlikely to move near‑term revenue. Yahoo: Microsoft Just Unveiled New AI Tools
• Neutral Sentiment: Org restructure for AI: Microsoft reshuffled its AI org to consolidate go‑to‑market and product execution — a long‑term constructive step but with execution risk during the transition. Fool: Microsoft Reshuffled Its Entire AI Organization
• Negative Sentiment: Weak quarterly reaction and ROI concerns: Investors punished the stock after Q1, calling out elevated capex for AI, slower Copilot adoption and uncertainty over the return on massive infrastructure spending — the core reason for the recent pullback. CNBC: Microsoft closes worst quarter since 2008
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/competition risk: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has launched a probe into Microsoft’s business‑software ecosystem and cloud licensing, adding litigation and regulatory overhang. Reuters: UK to launch antitrust probe into Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and sentiment pressures: The stock recently breached its 200‑week moving average and suffered heavy dip selling; social‑media and technical chatter is amplifying downside risk in the short term. Insider sales are also noted in public filings. QuiverQuant: Opinions on Breaching 200‑Week Moving Average

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $641.00 price target (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Benchmark began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. HSBC reduced their price target on Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $588.97.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, 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 approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $369.37 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $404.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $464.55. The company has a market cap of $2.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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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