Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 197.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,834 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,166 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.0% of Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Houlihan Financial Resource Group Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after purchasing an additional 15,955,898 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 299,196,519 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,823,341,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,142 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $50,493,678,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. President Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.20.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft won a major healthcare AI win, with NHS England planning a rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot to 505,000 clinicians and staff. The deal could expand recurring Copilot adoption and reinforces Microsoft’s AI monetization story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts pointed to fresh support for Azure and Microsoft’s broader AI cloud business, including commentary that rising AI infrastructure demand could boost cloud upside and longer-term earnings growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also received positive coverage around its AI strategy, with articles highlighting its agentic AI ambitions and Citi reaffirming a Buy rating with a $620 price target, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s open-source GitHub projects were reportedly compromised by hackers trying to steal AI developer logins, which is a security concern but not yet a clear direct financial hit. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several pieces discussed Microsoft’s long-term AI position, OpenAI relationship, and stock valuation, but these were mostly commentary rather than new business updates. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft stock is also facing pressure from reports that it is “sinking” despite some positive news, reflecting investor caution after recent gains and a broader rotation away from mega-cap tech. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Short-interest data and hedge-fund activity added to the cautious tone, with articles noting Microsoft has been a recent target of heavy debate and that David Tepper sold most of Appaloosa’s Microsoft position. Article Title

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $403.41 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $409.48 and a 200 day moving average of $430.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).