344,000 Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Bought by Mariner Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• Mariner Investment Group disclosed a new stake in Microsoft, buying 344,000 shares valued at about $166.4 million. Microsoft now represents roughly 9.7% of Mariner’s holdings, making it the firm’s largest position.
• Microsoft reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 versus the $4.06 consensus and revenue of $82.89 billion topping estimates. The company also posted year-over-year revenue growth of 18.3%.
• Despite strong fundamentals and a newly declared $0.91 quarterly dividend, the stock has recently traded below its prior levels, and analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $561.20.

Mariner Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 344,000 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $166,365,000. Microsoft makes up about 9.7% of Mariner Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $379.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $356.28 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $412.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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 transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New reporting suggests Microsoft is still benefiting from strong AI demand, including ByteDance spending more than $1 billion annually on Azure AI services and broader commentary that Azure growth and AI run-rate remain major drivers of investor interest. Microsoft Builds $1 Billion-Plus AI Business With ByteDance
• Positive Sentiment: Several pieces argued Microsoft’s pullback may be creating a buying opportunity because the company still has strong cash flow, dividend growth, and discounted valuation relative to its AI prospects. Microsoft's Boring Stock Story May Be Its Biggest Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention for product and ecosystem updates, including a possible PayPal integration for Xbox buy-now-pay-later checkout and new Teams features, but these are not likely near-term stock movers. Microsoft Sizes Up PayPal as Xbox Leak Exposes Buy Now Pay Later Plans
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced or promoted securities class actions tied to Microsoft, alleging investors were harmed by misleading AI/Copilot-related statements during the May 2025 to January 2026 period. These legal headlines can weigh on sentiment. Portnoy Law Firm Announces Class Action on Behalf of Microsoft Corporation Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Another negative overhang is the claim that Copilot functionality issues contributed to a sharp stock drop, reinforcing investor concerns about execution risk and AI spending efficiency. Investor Rights Alert: Microsoft Faces Securities Fraud Class Action after Copilot Issues
• Negative Sentiment: There is also renewed concern that Microsoft’s gaming strategy is under pressure, with coverage pointing to the Steam Machine and broader cost-cutting in gaming as threats to growth in that segment. The Biggest Threat to Microsoft’s Gaming Ambitions is the Steam Machine

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Phillip Securities upgraded Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. China Renaissance reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $561.20.

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).

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