Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Boosted by McIlrath & Eck LLC

McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 164.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 106,416 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,151 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.8% of McIlrath & Eck LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. McIlrath & Eck LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,465,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $441.31 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.27, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $403.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $433.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. 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 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, May 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Melius Research set a $430.00 target price on Microsoft in a report on Monday, February 9th. Forty 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled new in-house AI models at Build, including MAI-Code-1 and MAI-Thinking-1, signaling it is reducing reliance on OpenAI and Anthropic while lowering costs for developers.
• Positive Sentiment: The company introduced Microsoft Scout, an always-on personal agent for Microsoft 365, and other agentic AI tools, reinforcing the view that Microsoft is expanding its AI monetization opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia deepened their partnership on AI PCs and agentic computing across Windows and Azure, which investors viewed as a major catalyst for the Windows ecosystem and future hardware/software demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also highlighted its quantum computing progress with the Majorana 2 chip, adding to the company’s long-term innovation narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts and media reports remained constructive, with commentary pointing to strong Azure upside, AI demand, and a favorable long-term valuation case for MSFT.
• Neutral Sentiment: Build 2026 generated broad attention across the market, but some reports noted Microsoft teased a Copilot “Super App” without fully unveiling it, which may have tempered expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Judson Althoff sold 15,500 Microsoft shares in an SEC-disclosed transaction, which can create short-term investor concern even though the sale was relatively modest versus his remaining holdings.
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage cited profit-taking and concerns about capital intensity, margin pressure, and a possible AI policy overhang, helping explain the pullback despite the positive product news.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,083 shares of company stock valued at $12,710,152. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).