Norden Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 71,917 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,642 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.4% of Norden Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BLVD Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 1,276 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Management Ltd. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARK & TLK Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third 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. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $373.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.36, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $400.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $462.93. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors 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 (DPR) is 22.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 2nd. HSBC dropped their price target on Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 target price (down from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $588.97.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft pledged a major strategic buildout in Japan — a $10 billion, multi‑year plan to fund AI data centers, cybersecurity and workforce training with partners including SoftBank and Sakura Internet, underpinning long‑term cloud/A.I. revenue opportunities and local partnerships. Microsoft to invest $10 billion in Japan for AI and cyber defence expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft rolled out multiple proprietary AI models and signaled it will build frontier models in‑house — a strategic shift to reduce dependence on partners and capture more of the AI stack (product control, margins and IP). This supports the long‑term AI revenue thesis. Microsoft building its own high-powered AI models as it looks to slash dependence on OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Management says Copilot sales targets were met after changing the go‑to‑market approach (moving to paid/subscription rather than broad bundling), a sign of product monetization gaining traction. That helps offset concerns about adoption. Microsoft hits Copilot sales goals after strategy shift – Bloomberg
• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark initiated coverage / and some street notes raised targets (coverage and a $675 price target were reported), providing analyst support that could lift sentiment if follow‑through occurs. Microsoft Charts $10 Billion of Outlays in AI-Eager Japan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced local partnerships and community programs (e.g., Victoria University datacenter academy) that support talent pipeline and social license for datacenter expansion — constructive but longer‑dated impact. Microsoft Corp (MSFT) Partners with Victoria University on Datacenter Community Pledge
• Neutral Sentiment: Smaller ecosystem developments (Sakura Internet confirming talks, local partners’ stock moves) amplify the Japan story but are execution‑dependent; useful context for investors tracking regional rollout. SAKURA Internet Confirms Exploratory AI Cloud Collaboration Talks With Microsoft Japan
• Negative Sentiment: Recent quarterly performance and commentary have disappointed some investors — headlines describe a Q1 “slide” and the worst quarterly drop since 2008 for MSFT, feeding the narrative of short‑term weakness and valuation re‑rating. That continues to pressure the stock. After Microsoft’s Q1 Slide, Are the Bulls Still On Board?
• Negative Sentiment: Several large funds / billionaires have trimmed MSFT positions in recent 13F disclosures (D.E. Shaw, Steve Cohen, Dan Loeb), signaling some institutional profit‑taking amid concerns over cloud supply constraints and guidance — a headwind for near‑term flows. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Billionaire Steve Cohen Trims Position
• Negative Sentiment: Security/product risks surfaced (reports on “AI recommendation poisoning”) and ongoing execution demands for in‑house frontier models add operational risk and could temper upside if issues emerge. AI Recommendation Poisoning: Why Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Is Fighting So Hard

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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).