Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Acquired by Marathon Capital Management

Key Points

• Marathon Capital Management increased its Microsoft stake by 5.1% in the second quarter, owning 23,877 shares valued at approximately $8.9 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 71.13% of Microsoft’s stock.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.74 beating estimates and revenue rising 17.7% year over year to $90.01 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $564.27.
• Microsoft raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share from $0.91, while insiders have sold approximately $71.4 million of company stock over the past 90 days.

Marathon Capital Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,877 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.8% of Marathon Capital Management's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Marathon Capital Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Partners in Financial Planning lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Partners in Financial Planning now owns 2,593 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. FWG Holdings LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. FWG Holdings LLC now owns 8,368 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,047,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Skylands Capital LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 645 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial increased its holdings in Microsoft by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequent Planning LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 533,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,888,830.48. The trade was a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 143,009 shares of company stock valued at $71,420,699 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $493.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The company's 50-day moving average price is $466.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $660.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and issued a $540.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $564.27.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure and AI businesses remain the primary bullish catalysts. Analysts point to accelerating cloud growth, broad enterprise adoption and Microsoft’s distribution advantage through Azure, Microsoft 365 and Copilot. These Magnificent Seven Members Still Look Cheap
• Positive Sentiment: Causaly expanded its collaboration with Microsoft, making its agentic scientific-research tools available within Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365 and Teams. The deal supports Microsoft’s strategy of adding specialized AI workflows to its enterprise software ecosystem. Causaly is Now Available in Microsoft Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s 8% quarterly dividend increase reinforces its strong cash generation and provides shareholder support, although the company continues to invest heavily in cloud and AI infrastructure. Microsoft Slips as Its Quarterly Dividend Climbs 8%
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman called recent reports of concerning model behavior at OpenAI a “serious situation” and emphasized the need for controllable, human-aligned AI. The comments highlight Microsoft’s safety focus but also underscore reputational and product-liability risks across the sector. OpenAI's latest AI revelation is a serious situation
• Negative Sentiment: Unsealed filings reportedly include Microsoft and OpenAI employees’ concerns that AI training on millions of news articles could amount to the “largest theft of labor in human history.” The disclosures may weaken the companies’ fair-use defense and increase potential litigation, licensing and regulatory costs. OpenAI, Microsoft executives' quotes on AI training threaten copyright defense
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of insider selling added to near-term sentiment pressure, while Microsoft faces competitive challenges from Salesforce’s AIforce and ongoing debate over whether its substantial AI spending will generate adequate returns. Microsoft Trading Down After Insider Selling

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital solutions for consumers, businesses and public-sector organizations. Its products and services include the Windows operating system, Microsoft 365 productivity applications, Teams collaboration software, Dynamics business applications and Azure cloud computing services.

The company also operates LinkedIn, GitHub and Xbox, which includes gaming consoles, video games and related online services.

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