Hegarty Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Hegarty Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,694 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $819,000. Microsoft makes up about 0.7% of Hegarty Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BLVD Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. now owns 6,509 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd 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. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $418.57 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $399.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $437.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, New Street Research reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $560.88.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly deepening its AI strategy through talks with Anthropic over use of its Maia AI chips, which could expand demand for Microsoft’s custom silicon and strengthen its position in AI infrastructure. Anthropic in talks to use Microsoft’s AI chips, The Information reports
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s reported integration of ChatGPT into Microsoft PowerPoint highlights tighter product tie-ins that could boost adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot and broader enterprise AI usage. ChatGPT Lands in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and EY announced a $1 billion partnership to accelerate corporate AI adoption, reinforcing expectations that Microsoft can monetize AI across large enterprise customers. Microsoft and EY Team to Promote Corporate AI Adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Several articles and analyst notes framed MSFT as an undervalued momentum name with AI catalysts building, including RBC reiterating a buy rating, which may be supporting shares. Microsoft had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is undergoing an internal AI-era leadership reset, including the planned departure of longtime executive Yusuf Mehdi, which signals strategic change but also adds some organizational uncertainty. Microsoft veteran executive Yusuf Mehdi is leaving after the next fiscal year
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage focused on Microsoft’s GitHub outages and higher AI operating costs, raising questions about execution, infrastructure strain, and whether AI usage is becoming too expensive to scale smoothly. Microsoft’s GitHub was positioned to win the AI coding race. Outages got in the way
• Negative Sentiment: The Gates Foundation’s sale of its remaining Microsoft stake was a headline overhang, though it appears more like portfolio rebalancing than a direct read on Microsoft’s fundamentals. The Gates Foundation Sold All of Its Remaining Microsoft Stock. Should Investors Be Worried?

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value 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 trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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).