Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys 7,738 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 200,498 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,738 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.1% of Howard Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $103,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective (down from $650.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $641.00 target price (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $401.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.12, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $445.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $484.72. 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and AI strategists argue Microsoft is a core AI infrastructure winner — a driver for investor interest given Azure, identity/auth layers and high switching costs that position MSFT to benefit from AI-driven enterprise spending. AI Is Separating Software Winners From Losers
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s new collaboration with Starlink signals expanded connectivity and potential Azure edge use cases (rural/remote customers), supporting cloud revenue optionality and positive sentiment around partnership-driven growth. Microsoft Is Teaming up With Starlink
• Positive Sentiment: An insider purchase (director John Stanton) added a small but visible vote of confidence after the post-earnings sell-off, which can support short-term sentiment and stabilize shares. Director Stanton John Just Bought $2 Million of Microsoft Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: The White House’s planned power-cost pledge with big cloud/data-center firms (including Microsoft) reduces one operational risk for hyperscalers and could be a modest long-term positive for data-center economics, though timing/implementation remain uncertain. White House to host Big Tech pledge
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella’s public comments pushing back on low-quality “AI slop” reflect management trying to shape the narrative around responsible, enterprise-grade AI — a reputational plus but contributed to short-term volatility as markets parsed the tone. Satya Nadella Rails Against AI Slop
• Negative Sentiment: Japan’s Fair Trade Commission raided Microsoft Japan offices in a probe into possible restrictions around Azure customers using rival cloud services — this antitrust scrutiny is an immediate regulatory overhang that can hurt sentiment and add legal/operational uncertainty. Microsoft Japan raided over suspected violation of anti-monopoly law
• Negative Sentiment: Market debate continues over Azure growth pacing vs. very large AI infrastructure capex (management flagged elevated AI-related investment), which knocked the stock after Q2 despite beats — investors are weighing near-term margin/cash impact against longer-term AI revenue upside. Microsoft Stock Opinions on Fiscal Q2 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Broader sector risks — heightened talk of AI regulation and a Magnificent Seven rotation — keep pressure on valuations and can amplify moves in MSFT even when fundamentals are solid; this contributes to volatility until clarity on regulation and data-center costs emerges. Will Regulating AI Cripple AI Stocks?

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).