Investment Research Partners LLC Invests $6.58 Million in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Investment Research Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,152 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $6,581,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.0% of Investment Research Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft in 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 acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.0%

MSFT stock opened at $381.35 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $418.85 and its 200 day moving average is $472.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $540.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.87.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This 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 through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. The trade was 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 company insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI tie-up is driving new customer wins and adoption of Microsoft AI products, supporting recurring revenue growth and Copilot monetization. How Microsoft’s (MSFT) OpenAI Partnership Is Bringing in a New Wave of Customers
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts point to an AI-fueled Azure surge and a large enterprise backlog (reported as a material competitive edge vs. peers like Adobe), supporting medium-term revenue upside. Microsoft vs. Adobe: Which Software Giant Has Better Upside Potential?
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partner activity (e.g., Accenture collaborations and ecosystem integrations) reinforces Microsoft’s position in enterprise security and AI services, which can deepen customer stickiness and drive incremental services revenue. Accenture Expands AI-Driven Cybersecurity Capabilities with Microsoft Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Traders and retail investors are seeing increased options activity and yield strategies (but these are tactical, not fundamental). Some traders propose structured trades (butterfly, income ETFs) to play the pullback. Transform Microsoft Stock Weakness Into A $1,700 Payoff With A Butterfly Trade
• Neutral Sentiment: Large-cap active ETFs continue to hold Microsoft as a core position, which can stabilize flows even during sell-offs (institutional ETF flows are a background influence on demand).
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI exclusivity appears at risk as OpenAI talks with Amazon, and reports say Microsoft is considering legal action — a potential breakdown of the partnership would materially weaken MSFT’s AI moat and Azure demand assumptions. Microsoft Weighs Legal Fight As OpenAI Amazon Talks Test Azure Edge
• Negative Sentiment: Policy/contract changes in local government dealings (NDAs and procurement) have been cited as a trigger for some municipal and public-sector deals to slow, which analysts say pressured the stock in intraday trading. No More NDAs: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Slumps After Change in Local Government Dealings
• Negative Sentiment: Security incidents continue to create headlines: a U.S. agency urged firms to harden a Microsoft endpoint tool after the Stryker attack, and reports of SharePoint being used as an attack vector raise enterprise risk and potential remediation costs. These keep risk-premiums elevated for MSFT. US agency asks companies to secure Microsoft tool after Stryker cyberattack
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about rising infrastructure and AI compute costs that have pressured margins despite solid top-line beats; commentary that the stock has been “slammed” this year reflects worry about near-term margin compression and valuation re-rating. Microsoft Stock Has Been Absolutely Slammed This Year. Is It Finally Time to Buy?

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).