Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Boosted by Athena Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Athena Wealth Management LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 60.6% in the first quarter, buying 1,396 additional shares and bringing its total to 3,700 shares worth about $1.37 million.
• Microsoft’s latest earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $4.27 on $82.89 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 18.3% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, and analysts remain generally bullish with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $560.86.

Athena Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 60.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,700 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.1% of Athena Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Athena Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in 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 purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in 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 period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 5.7%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $372.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company's fifty day moving average price is $410.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $421.47. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.Microsoft's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.46 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft shares bounced as the broader memory and semiconductor market stabilized, helping relieve some of the pressure tied to AI infrastructure and component-cost fears.
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush and other bullish commentators said the recent tech selloff may be a buying opportunity, arguing Microsoft remains a core AI leader despite near-term volatility. Dan Ives Says Microsoft And Meta Are Being Treated Like 'Bear Market' Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft was mentioned in new partnerships and product integrations, including Commvault, PitchBook, FPT, and ICON plc, reinforcing demand for Microsoft’s cloud and AI ecosystem. Microsoft Just Made Commvault a Native Azure Service. Here Is How to Play CVLT Stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft also drew attention from investors after Michael Burry disclosed a long position, which some traders viewed as a contrarian buy signal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles noted analysts still like the stock long term, but Wall Street remains focused on whether AI spending is destroying near-term margins and free cash flow. Wall Street Analysts Think Microsoft (MSFT) Is a Good Investment: Is It?
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel cut its Microsoft price target and warned that FY27 gross margin estimates may be too high because Azure growth is coming with heavier capex and margin pressure. Microsoft’s Stock Is Crippled
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft announced another worldwide Xbox price increase, citing soaring memory and storage costs, which adds to concerns that hardware inflation is squeezing the gaming business.
• Negative Sentiment: New legal and regulatory pressure also weighed on the stock, including an Italy antitrust probe into Microsoft 365 pricing and new shareholder class-action notices over alleged investor misinformation.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. China Renaissance decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $575.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Forty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $560.86.

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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