Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Purchases 2,726 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,314 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,726 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.1% of Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IRON Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.2% in the third quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,372,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Wellington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth approximately $9,941,000. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $828,000. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.6% in the second quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,816,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $641.00 target price (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price target on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $588.97.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large Asia infrastructure commitments: Microsoft said it will invest about $5.5B in Singapore and $1B in Thailand to build cloud and AI data‑center capacity, strengthening long‑term revenue visibility for Azure and enterprise AI services. WSJ: Microsoft Plans to Invest $5.5 Billion in Singapore
• Positive Sentiment: Energy supply de‑risking for AI buildout: Microsoft entered an exclusivity deal with Chevron and Engine No. 1 to explore a ~2.5GW (potentially 5GW) gas‑powered complex in West Texas to power large data centers — a strategic move to secure power and reduce one key constraint on AI scaling. Reuters: Microsoft, Chevron and Engine No. 1 sign exclusive deal
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst backing and higher targets: Multiple firms initiated or raised coverage (Benchmark buy initiation, New Street target hike and other bullish notes), keeping a majority of analysts constructive and implying significant upside from current levels. This institutional support can cushion near‑term downside. Yahoo Finance: What Do Analysts Say About Microsoft?
• Neutral Sentiment: Governance and safety moves: Microsoft unveiled new AI tools (a “Critique and Council” approach) aimed at improving model oversight and trust — helpful for long‑term adoption but unlikely to move near‑term revenue. Yahoo: Microsoft Just Unveiled New AI Tools
• Neutral Sentiment: Org restructure for AI: Microsoft reshuffled its AI org to consolidate go‑to‑market and product execution — a long‑term constructive step but with execution risk during the transition. Fool: Microsoft Reshuffled Its Entire AI Organization
• Negative Sentiment: Weak quarterly reaction and ROI concerns: Investors punished the stock after Q1, calling out elevated capex for AI, slower Copilot adoption and uncertainty over the return on massive infrastructure spending — the core reason for the recent pullback. CNBC: Microsoft closes worst quarter since 2008
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/competition risk: The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has launched a probe into Microsoft’s business‑software ecosystem and cloud licensing, adding litigation and regulatory overhang. Reuters: UK to launch antitrust probe into Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and sentiment pressures: The stock recently breached its 200‑week moving average and suffered heavy dip selling; social‑media and technical chatter is amplifying downside risk in the short term. Insider sales are also noted in public filings. QuiverQuant: Opinions on Breaching 200‑Week Moving Average

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $369.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $404.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $464.55. 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 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

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).