Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Benin Management CORP’s 2nd Largest Position

Benin Management CORP boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,024 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,543 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 8.1% of Benin Management CORP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Benin Management CORP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on Microsoft from $625.00 to $530.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. New Street Research boosted their price target on Microsoft from $670.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 price objective on Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $369.37 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $404.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $464.55. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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