Sherman Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Sherman Wealth Management opened a new position in Microsoft in Q4, buying 1,384 shares worth about $669,000, while 71.13% of MSFT is held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $588.97, although several firms have recently trimmed their targets.
• Near‑term catalysts include Microsoft’s FY2026 Q3 earnings on April 29 and a declared quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share (ex‑dividend May 21, payable June 11); insiders reported a notable EVP sale of 12,321 shares and a director purchase of 5,000 shares.

Sherman Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,384 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $669,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street analyst support and bullish research are drawing buyers — major firms (including Goldman and other brokers) are highlighting MSFT as a rebound candidate and publishing price targets well above current levels, which helps underpin today's rally. Goldman sees rebound for Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Product and partnership catalysts: Microsoft’s Agent 365 platform is moving to GA with launch partners (supporting enterprise governance for AI agents), and the company is expanding commercial AI tie-ups — tangible signs of enterprise monetization for Copilot/agent products. Reply selected as Microsoft Agent 365 launch partner
• Positive Sentiment: Consumer/PR boost from gaming: fresh details on Forza Horizon 6 and other Xbox updates have driven short‑term positive momentum for MSFT shares tied to Xbox/Xbox Game Pass engagement. Forza Horizon 6 details lift MSFT stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings schedule set — Microsoft will report FY2026 Q3 after the close on April 29; the date focuses attention on Azure growth, backlog metrics and free‑cash‑flow cadence at month‑end. Quarterly earnings release date announced
• Neutral Sentiment: Partner/partner‑ecosystem wins (Azure specializations, platform connectors) keep enterprise pipeline healthy but are incremental to revenue near term. Centrilogic earns Azure specialization
• Negative Sentiment: Executive turnover: another senior departure and the planned retirement of longtime exec Julia Liuson raise governance and continuity questions for developer tools and platform strategy; exits can sap sentiment until leadership transitions settle. Julia Liuson to retire Another senior departure at Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: AI capex and Copilot adoption concerns continue to weigh: investors remain worried about rising infrastructure spend, slower-than-expected Copilot monetization and whether those costs will compress near‑term margins. That narrative has driven much of the stock’s recent re‑rating. Why MSFT stock has been shredded
• Negative Sentiment: Security and legal noise: reports of a developer account lock affecting VeraCrypt updates and an amended lawsuit filing referencing Microsoft add episodic risk that can amplify short‑term volatility. VeraCrypt account termination / Windows update disruption reports

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. HSBC lowered their price target on Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Phillip Securities raised Microsoft from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Benchmark initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $575.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $588.97.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $374.33 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $394.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $459.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 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 fifty-two week low of $353.10 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 22.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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