Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,790,914 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,041,041 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.9% of ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,800,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $49,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft News Summary

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. President Capital increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Dbs Bank cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Arete Research increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.7%

Microsoft stock opened at $416.67 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $407.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $432.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

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).