1,262 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Acquired by Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC opened a new Microsoft position in Q4, buying 1,262 shares worth about $610,000. The stake accounts for 0.6% of its portfolio and is its 28th-largest holding.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 topping estimates and revenue of $82.89 billion beating expectations. Revenue rose 18.3% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 16.76.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable June 11, and analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $561.20.

Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,262 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $610,000. Microsoft comprises 0.6% of Liberty Atlantic Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,735,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $441.31 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.11. The business's fifty day moving average is $403.52 and its 200-day moving average is $433.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. New Street Research cut their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Forty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $561.20.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled new in-house AI models at Build, including MAI-Code-1 and MAI-Thinking-1, signaling it is reducing reliance on OpenAI and Anthropic while lowering costs for developers.
• Positive Sentiment: The company introduced Microsoft Scout, an always-on personal agent for Microsoft 365, and other agentic AI tools, reinforcing the view that Microsoft is expanding its AI monetization opportunities.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia deepened their partnership on AI PCs and agentic computing across Windows and Azure, which investors viewed as a major catalyst for the Windows ecosystem and future hardware/software demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also highlighted its quantum computing progress with the Majorana 2 chip, adding to the company’s long-term innovation narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts and media reports remained constructive, with commentary pointing to strong Azure upside, AI demand, and a favorable long-term valuation case for MSFT.
• Neutral Sentiment: Build 2026 generated broad attention across the market, but some reports noted Microsoft teased a Copilot “Super App” without fully unveiling it, which may have tempered expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Judson Althoff sold 15,500 Microsoft shares in an SEC-disclosed transaction, which can create short-term investor concern even though the sale was relatively modest versus his remaining holdings.
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage cited profit-taking and concerns about capital intensity, margin pressure, and a possible AI policy overhang, helping explain the pullback despite the positive product news.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,083 shares of company stock worth $12,710,152. 0.03% of the stock is 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).

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