Hedeker Wealth LLC Acquires 5,703 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Hedeker Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,071 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,703 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.5% of Hedeker Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Hedeker Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Wellington Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,941,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,816,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 922,524 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $457,119,000 after acquiring an additional 33,382 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 14.0% in the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.3% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 285,163 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $147,700,000 after purchasing an additional 11,770 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and Street optimism — Wedbush’s Dan Ives and others are positioning Microsoft as set for strong Q4 results tied to AI/cloud momentum, helping lift sentiment ahead of earnings. Dan Ives: Very Strong Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Broker reaffirmation — Morgan Stanley kept an Overweight rating and high $650 target based on survey data showing rising enterprise software spend, supporting longer‑term upside expectations. Morgan Stanley Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI monetization boost — OpenAI’s worldwide rollout of the lower‑cost ChatGPT Go subscription expands the addressable market for AI services where Microsoft has strategic exposure, lifting revenue hopes. OpenAI ChatGPT Go Worldwide
• Positive Sentiment: Data‑center expansion/community plan — News of a $500M–$1B Michigan data‑center push and Microsoft’s “community‑first” messaging shows continued capex to support Azure/AI growth, which investors view as reinforcing future revenue streams despite near‑term costs. Michigan Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/short‑term rebound thesis — Some analysts note MSFT is oversold and could see a technical bounce ahead of earnings, which supports trading interest but is not a fundamental catalyst. Zacks: Ripe for Turnaround
• Neutral Sentiment: Minor operational housekeeping — The company closed some on‑campus libraries, a small cost/real‑estate move that got attention but is unlikely to materially affect earnings. MSFT Shuts Libraries
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory probe into Activision Blizzard — Italy opened investigations into alleged “misleading and aggressive” in‑game purchase practices for Call of Duty Mobile and Diablo Immortal, creating reputational and potential financial risk for MSFT’s gaming unit. Italy Investigates Activision
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk from Musk trial — A judge cleared Elon Musk’s suit against OpenAI and Microsoft to proceed to a jury trial in April, introducing headline legal overhang and potential distraction/costs. Musk Trial Moves Forward
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny and analyst trim — Switzerland opened a probe into Microsoft’s licensing fees and Barclays lowered its price target, both adding near‑term headwinds to sentiment amid capex worries and noted insider selling. Swiss Probe into Licensing Fees

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Rothschild Redb downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.37.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $459.86 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $483.97 and a 200-day moving average of $502.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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).