Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its Microsoft stake by 1.0% to 180,578 shares valued at $87.33 million, making MSFT about 1.6% of its portfolio and its 14th-largest holding.
• Microsoft beat Q3 estimates with $4.27 EPS and $82.89 billion revenue (up 18.3%), showing accelerated Azure growth and >20M paid Copilot users, though rising capex and OpenAI/competitive shifts pose near-term margin and strategic risks.
• Analysts maintain a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average target of $563.72 amid mixed price‑target revisions; MSFT trades around $424, has a $3.15 trillion market cap, and yields about 0.9% annually.

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,578 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.6% of Ritholtz Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $87,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fonville Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,326 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,510,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 36,624 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 13,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,593,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,646 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,149,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 417,149 shares of the software giant's stock worth $201,742,000 after purchasing an additional 11,013 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $590.00 to $502.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $641.00 price objective (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $563.72.

More Microsoft News

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 Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $424.46 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $395.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $448.65. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.04 by $0.23. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $81.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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