Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Has $10.31 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Zweig DiMenna Associates cut its Microsoft position by 42.8% in the first quarter, selling 20,850 shares and retaining 27,850 shares valued at approximately $10.31 million.
• Microsoft’s latest results beat expectations, with adjusted EPS of $4.74 and revenue of $90.01 billion. Azure growth of 43% and more than 30 million paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats strengthened confidence in the company’s AI monetization.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive, with 42 analysts rating Microsoft a Buy and five rating it a Hold; the consensus is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $558.64. Insiders sold about $10.5 million of stock during the quarter.

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 42.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,850 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 20,850 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.4% of Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 980,298 shares of the software giant's stock worth $362,877,000 after purchasing an additional 3,211 shares during the period. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,684 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in Microsoft by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 28,891 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Microsoft by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV now owns 927 shares of the software giant's stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Cogent Strategic Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 139.6% during the 1st quarter. Cogent Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 2,892 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,071,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a "buy" rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. New Street Research cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore set a $528.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, July 20th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $558.64.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure growth exceeded expectations: Azure revenue increased 43%, ahead of roughly 40% analyst expectations, and annual Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time. The performance eased concerns that demand for AI infrastructure might be slowing. Microsoft tops quarterly cloud growth estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Strong earnings beat: Microsoft reported $4.74 in adjusted EPS versus a $4.24 consensus estimate and $90.01 billion in revenue versus expectations of $87.62 billion. Revenue rose 17.7% year over year, while profit increased about 31%. Microsoft fourth-quarter earnings
• Positive Sentiment: AI monetization is accelerating: Microsoft 365 Copilot surpassed 30 million paid seats, while management described the next growth phase as a “per seat plus consumption” model. Investors viewed Azure and Copilot adoption as evidence that AI investments are translating into commercial demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Spending concerns moderated: Microsoft held its capital-expenditure outlook broadly steady and said it expects continued cash generation in fiscal 2027. Management also said GPU spending could be adjusted if demand weakens, helping counter fears of unchecked AI-related cash burn. Microsoft keeps capex forecast unchanged
• Positive Sentiment: Backlog and analyst support improved: Commercial remaining performance obligations reached a record $678 billion, up 84% year over year. RBC, Goldman Sachs, BMO, TD Cowen and DA Davidson were among firms maintaining positive ratings or raising targets.
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox strategy: New gaming chief Asha Sharma aims to exceed peers’ margins by 2030 through Minecraft investment and partnerships, including in China. The plan could support longer-term profitability but remains execution-dependent. Microsoft Xbox margin plan
• Negative Sentiment: Risks remain: Wiz reported a cloud vulnerability that could have exposed Microsoft customers, while U.K. regulators are investigating Microsoft 365 subscription marketing. Several securities-fraud law firms also publicized shareholder lawsuits. These developments are potential overhangs, although they did not offset the earnings-driven optimism.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $451.10 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $397.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $405.54. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 33.07%. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.27%.

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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