Main Street Research LLC Grows Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Main Street Research LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 77.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 168,164 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 73,462 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.7% of Main Street Research LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $87,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and issued a $392.00 price objective (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.95.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft has a near-term product catalyst: a $99/month AI tools bundle (includes Copilot capabilities) with a May 1 launch that could drive commercial adoption and recurring ARR growth. Microsoft Is Racing to Beat Claude Cowork. A Big Catalyst for MSFT Stock Is Coming May 1.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding into healthcare AI with Copilot Health (can read medical records and provide personalized insights) and partner integrations, opening a large vertical market and cross‑sell opportunities for Azure and Copilot. Microsoft launched a new healthcare chatbot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft 365 E7 bundles Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude Cowork and security tools — a premium enterprise offering that can lift average revenue per user for large customers. Analysts continue to highlight AI-driven revenue upside. Microsoft’s New E7 AI Suite And Healthcare Push Shape Long-Term Outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox/product cycle news: Microsoft is advancing Project Helix (next‑gen Xbox) but prototypes won’t reach developers until 2027 — positive for long-term console moat but not an immediate revenue driver. Microsoft’s Next Xbox Moves Closer to Reality: What It Means for MSFT Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Gaming/graphics tech progress (DirectX/advanced shader delivery with NVIDIA/Intel) reduces frictions for PC gaming and helps Xbox/Windows gaming competitiveness but is a more gradual, longer-term tailwind. DirectX Gears Up For ML Era On Windows
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern about huge AI data‑center capex and public pushback over electricity/costs is weighing on the stock; large lease and buildouts boost growth but increase near‑term cash burn. Who is really footing the AI energy bill? Inside the debate about data center electricity costs
• Negative Sentiment: Security scare: reports of a new vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator have spooked investors and triggered selling pressure tied to identity/security risk. New Vulnerability in Microsoft Authenticator Sends Microsoft Stock Sliding
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership change: Rajesh Jha, a long‑time head of experiences and devices (Office/Copilot products), announced retirement — creates short‑term execution/transition uncertainty. Microsoft’s Rajesh Jha, head of experiences and devices unit, to retire
• Negative Sentiment: Options and flows show increased demand for downside protection (put-call skew steepening), reflecting trader caution after the pullback. Option traders moderately bearish in Microsoft with shareslittle changed

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $395.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.10. 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 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $427.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $476.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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).