Marino Stram & Associates LLC Trims Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Marino Stram & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in Microsoft by 7.2% in Q4, selling 1,542 shares and ending the quarter with 19,807 shares worth $9.579 million, making MSFT 1.7% of the fund and its 9th-largest holding.
• Insider activity: EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares at an average $409.52 (~$5.05M), an 8.2% reduction in her position, while Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares at $397.35, a 6.34% increase in his stake.
• Financials & dividend: Microsoft beat estimates with $4.14 EPS vs. $3.86 expected and $81.27B revenue vs. $80.28B, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share (annualized $3.64, yield ~0.9%), ex-dividend May 21 and payable June 11.

Marino Stram & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,807 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,542 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.7% of Marino Stram & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Marino Stram & Associates LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 4.6%

MSFT stock opened at $411.22 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $355.67 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $390.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $455.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.76%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft agreed to take up spare capacity at a Norway data center originally intended for OpenAI, giving it access to tens of thousands of Nvidia GPUs and immediately boosting its AI compute footprint — a direct, near-term capacity win for Azure and Copilot workloads. OpenAI pulls back from Stargate Norway data center deal as Microsoft takes over
• Positive Sentiment: Technical and sentiment momentum: Microsoft just logged its best three-session performance since April 2023, reflecting a short-term rotation back into beaten-down mega-cap AI names and traders reacting to the compute/capacity news. Microsoft's stock has sprung back to life: It's on its strongest run in 3 years, by one measure
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and industry bullishness: a number of commentaries and upgrades argue Microsoft’s pullback is overdone given its cloud backlog and Copilot monetization potential — supporting a view that further upside is possible if execution continues. Microsoft Stock Got Punished by AI Fears. The Market's Been Too Harsh.
• Neutral Sentiment: Massive AI capex and data‑center expansion remain a double‑edged sword: Microsoft is accelerating build‑out (including a new 3,200‑acre Wyoming site) and guiding very large capital spending — this supports long‑term growth but keeps near‑term capex scrutiny and margin pressure in play. Microsoft's AI Data Center Push: Growth Engine or Capex Trap?
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options volume has been reported, indicating heightened trader activity and positioning around the name — this amplifies moves but can increase short‑term volatility. Microsoft Sees Unusually Large Options Volume NASDAQ: MSFT
• Negative Sentiment: Price‑target trims and valuation questions persist: several firms have reduced targets amid the post‑peak re‑rating, keeping upside under review and maintaining downside risk if growth or margin inflection points slip. Mizuho Trims Microsoft Price Target to $515: How Much Upside Is Left in This AI Titan?
• Negative Sentiment: Partnership and competitive risk: mixed signals from AI partners (OpenAI internal comments and Anthropic activity) highlight dependency and competitive uncertainty around who controls model distribution and which clouds customers choose — a potential long‑term strategic headwind. OpenAI Says Microsoft 'Limited' Its Reach, Slams Anthropic For 'Inflated $30B Revenue

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Melius Research set a $430.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 18th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $579.82.

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).

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