Banta Asset Management LP Makes New Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Banta Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,326 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $641,000. Microsoft comprises about 0.6% of Banta Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,636 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,079,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,805 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV now owns 9,059 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,381,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69,203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $33,468,000 after purchasing an additional 2,542 shares during the period. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 37,051 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $416.67 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $407.63 and a 200-day moving average of $432.07. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E 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 one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Key Headlines 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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, President Capital boosted their target price 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. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.20.

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).