Strategic Advisory Partners LLC Takes Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Strategic Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter, acquiring 2,097 shares worth about $1.01 million. The stock now represents roughly 0.8% of its portfolio.
• Microsoft continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with 71.13% ownership
• The company posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue expectations, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share. Analysts remain largely positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

Strategic Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,097 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,014,000. Microsoft comprises about 0.8% of Strategic Advisory Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. S Harris Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $5,073,000. EJMK Ventures LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,369,000. Targeted Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,154,000. WMS Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,490,000. Finally, Tulsa Wealth Advisors INC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,233,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $561.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade 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 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $379.40 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $412.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 period last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New reporting suggests Microsoft is still benefiting from strong AI demand, including ByteDance spending more than $1 billion annually on Azure AI services and broader commentary that Azure growth and AI run-rate remain major drivers of investor interest. Microsoft Builds $1 Billion-Plus AI Business With ByteDance
• Positive Sentiment: Several pieces argued Microsoft’s pullback may be creating a buying opportunity because the company still has strong cash flow, dividend growth, and discounted valuation relative to its AI prospects. Microsoft's Boring Stock Story May Be Its Biggest Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention for product and ecosystem updates, including a possible PayPal integration for Xbox buy-now-pay-later checkout and new Teams features, but these are not likely near-term stock movers. Microsoft Sizes Up PayPal as Xbox Leak Exposes Buy Now Pay Later Plans
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced or promoted securities class actions tied to Microsoft, alleging investors were harmed by misleading AI/Copilot-related statements during the May 2025 to January 2026 period. These legal headlines can weigh on sentiment. Portnoy Law Firm Announces Class Action on Behalf of Microsoft Corporation Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Another negative overhang is the claim that Copilot functionality issues contributed to a sharp stock drop, reinforcing investor concerns about execution risk and AI spending efficiency. Investor Rights Alert: Microsoft Faces Securities Fraud Class Action after Copilot Issues
• Negative Sentiment: There is also renewed concern that Microsoft’s gaming strategy is under pressure, with coverage pointing to the Steam Machine and broader cost-cutting in gaming as threats to growth in that segment. The Biggest Threat to Microsoft’s Gaming Ambitions is the Steam Machine

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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