Michael Brady & Co. LLC Makes New $1.66 Million Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Michael Brady & Co. LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 3,431 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,660,000. Microsoft accounts for 1.7% of Michael Brady & Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. SageGuard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $25,776,000. Jones Kertz & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $8,158,000. GraniteShares Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 11,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,591,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 737,853 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $356,840,000 after acquiring an additional 27,206 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 31,719 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $15,340,000 after acquiring an additional 3,757 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is drawing bullish attention after news that its MDASH cybersecurity system outperformed Anthropic and OpenAI in a key test, reinforcing the company’s AI leadership and enterprise security story.
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and Phillip Securities both reiterated or upgraded Microsoft with bullish ratings, with fresh price targets suggesting meaningful upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced Carmine Di Sibio, former EY chairman and CEO, has joined its board of directors, which may be viewed as a governance and strategic-strengthening move.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is pursuing AI startup acquisitions beyond OpenAI suggest management is preparing new growth drivers and reducing reliance on a single AI partner.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Microsoft’s expanding AI revenue run rate and ongoing enterprise adoption, which continue to support the long-term growth narrative.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces focused on Microsoft’s OpenAI relationship, including a possible revenue-sharing cap and testimony from Satya Nadella, but the market impact is still uncertain until more deal details become public.
• Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn’s planned 5% workforce reduction may help margins, but it also signals ongoing restructuring across Microsoft’s ecosystem rather than a clear near-term catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: The U.K. competition regulator launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s business software dominance, raising the risk of future restrictions in Office, cloud, and AI-related distribution.
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage of browser-tab data collection in Microsoft Edge could add privacy concerns around Copilot and AI memory features, potentially increasing scrutiny of Microsoft’s consumer AI products.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing headlines about elevated AI spending, OpenAI-related trial testimony, and investor caution around capex may keep pressure on sentiment until Microsoft proves the returns on its AI investments.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $409.43 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $397.84 and its 200 day moving average is $441.52. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its 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 analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $615.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut their price target on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.88.

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).