V2 Financial group LLC Increases Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

V2 Financial group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 129.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,687 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.4% of V2 Financial group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. V2 Financial group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IRON Financial LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225 shares during the period. PMG Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $493,860,000 after purchasing an additional 9,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. The trade was a 6.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Evercore lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a 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 research note on Thursday, January 29th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Microsoft from $659.00 to $556.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $575.34.

Microsoft Stock Down 4.0%

MSFT stock opened at $415.75 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 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. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $393.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $451.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.76%.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft announced a major AU$25B (~$18B) commitment to expand Azure/AI capacity in Australia through 2029, signaling material long?term infrastructure expansion and customer demand for cloud AI. Microsoft to invest $18 billion in Australia in AI push (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street keeps issuing bullish takes on MSFT’s AI monetization: TD Cowen reaffirmed a Buy and highlighted accelerating Copilot adoption and new Office 365 bundles, supporting revenue upside from AI products. Accelerating Copilot Adoption and New Office 365 Bundles Support Stronger Growth Outlook for Microsoft (TipRanks)
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft will embed Anthropic’s Claude Mythos into its secure development lifecycle — a move that strengthens its security tooling and partnership ecosystem, reducing some product risk around deploying advanced models. Microsoft to integrate Anthropic’s Mythos into its security development program (Reuters)
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft reports fiscal Q3 results on April 29; analysts are watching guidance and AI monetization closely — the earnings print could swing sentiment materially. META, MSFT: Why Analysts Expect an “AI Rebound” Ahead of Q1 Earnings (TipRanks)
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft launched a voluntary retirement/buyout program for U.S. employees (up to ~7% eligible) as it restructures around AI — investors view this as a sign of large?scale reallocation and costly near?term adjustments. Microsoft plans first voluntary employee buyout (CNBC)
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: shares have sold off on concerns about heavy near?term AI spending (coverage cited $110B+ scale) and more conservative price targets — Rothschild & Co Redburn trimmed its target to $400 — adding to downward pressure. Microsoft Falls 4% as $110 Billion AI Bet Forces Historic Employee Buyout (247wallst) Rothschild lowers PT to $400 (MarketScreener)

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).