Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stake Boosted by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 136.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 274,648 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 158,528 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $132,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Melius Research set a $430.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered their target price on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.20.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Build 2026 announcements and related coverage continued to reinforce the company’s AI growth story, including new in-house models, agent tools, Windows upgrades, and enterprise AI infrastructure that could deepen its competitive position. Analysts Say Buy Microsoft Stock (MSFT) after Build 2026 Reinforces AI Growth Story
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Microsoft’s AI revenue run rate crossing $37 billion, suggesting strong monetization from Azure, Copilot, and enterprise AI offerings. Microsoft’s AI Revenue Run Rate Just Crossed $37 Billion. Is It the Best AI Stock to Buy Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street sentiment remains supportive, with TD Cowen reiterating a buy rating and a $540 target, while other analysts and investors continue to frame Microsoft as a durable long-term AI and cloud leader. The Market Is Undervaluing Microsoft, Says Analyst
• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s bullish comments comparing Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon to long-term compounding opportunities also added to the constructive investment narrative around MSFT. Billionaire Investor Bill Ackman: Buying Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon Today Could Be Like Adding Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway 25 Years Ago
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft announced Reid Hoffman will leave its board after nearly a decade; the move appears planned, though it removes a board member closely associated with the LinkedIn/OpenAI relationship. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman to step down from Microsoft’s board
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also attracting attention for broader AI ecosystem developments, including fusion power support from Helion and network-security integration for AI agents, which are positive long-term but not immediate stock catalysts. Helion, the Sam Altman-backed fusion startup, raises $465M to build a power plant for Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Several pieces flagged technical weakness in Microsoft’s chart and said the stock’s recent rejection at resistance could weigh on the broader software trade. Microsoft Stock Charts Look Vulnerable. Software Stocks Could Follow.
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary around Satya Nadella rebuking an internal “make people addicted” AI memo and renewed concern over Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI may be creating some short-term reputational and partnership noise. Reid Hoffman to Leave Microsoft’s Board of Directors

Microsoft Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $416.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $407.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $432.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 21.67%.

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).