Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 217,686 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 17,188 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.1% of Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $105,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. New Street Research lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $641.00 price objective (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.72.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.1%

MSFT stock opened at $424.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $395.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.65.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.04 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.30 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given 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 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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 shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories 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

About Microsoft

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).