Archer Investment Corp Has $6.48 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Archer Investment Corp increased its Microsoft stake by 29.3% in the first quarter, owning 17,514 shares valued at approximately $6.48 million. Microsoft represents about 1.4% of Archer’s portfolio, while institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft reported quarterly earnings of $4.27 per share, exceeding estimates of $4.06, while revenue rose 18.3% year over year to $82.89 billion. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing a 0.9% annualized yield.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $554.73, compared with the reported share price of $393.35. Recent insider activity was negative, with executives selling 23,762 shares worth about $10.5 million over 90 days.

Archer Investment Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 29.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,514 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.4% of Archer Investment Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Archer Investment Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted 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 valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $393.35 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $397.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $406.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.13. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $82.89 billion for 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 revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Arete Research increased their price target on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. China Renaissance cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $554.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled its first in-house cybersecurity AI model, MAI-Cyber-1-Flash, along with Project Perception, an agentic platform designed to detect and respond to AI-powered attacks. The products could strengthen Microsoft’s enterprise security position and create additional demand for Azure and security services. Microsoft launches AI cybersecurity model and defense platform
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remained bullish ahead of earnings. Citizens JMP reaffirmed a Market Outperform rating with a $550 target, while Piper Sandler maintained an Overweight rating and a $540 target—well above Microsoft’s recent trading range. Microsoft stock moves higher
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanding partnerships and integrations across Azure, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot support the argument that its broad enterprise ecosystem can monetize AI spending over time. Morgan Stanley estimates major technology companies could achieve 25%–50% returns on AI investments. AI capital expenditure plans

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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