Atwater Malick LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Atwater Malick LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,625 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,867 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.3% of Atwater Malick LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Atwater Malick LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Seek First Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Red Mountain Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Onyx Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Onyx Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,108 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,536,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $480.58 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $477.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $500.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $665.00 to $630.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Microsoft from $655.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Microsoft from $640.00 to $520.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Microsoft from $639.00 to $590.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $612.58.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Maia 200 AI chip launch: Microsoft unveiled a second‑generation inference accelerator that management says cuts inference cost and power per query — a direct lever to improve Azure/Copilot margins as AI usage scales. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Large data‑center approvals: Mount Pleasant, Wis., board approved plans for 15 additional data centers (multi‑billion dollar project); expands capacity to meet AI demand and supports long‑term Azure revenue growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cloud / AI momentum into earnings: Multiple previews highlight robust Azure growth and Copilot monetization as the primary upside drivers for revenue and guidance sensitivity. Investors expect management commentary on monetization and backlog. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market positioning ahead of Q2: Analysts and traders are pricing in a high‑expectations earnings event where forward guidance will likely matter more than the headline quarter. Watch capex/guidance language. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholder returns: Microsoft announced its first 2026 dividend payment date — supports income investors but has limited near‑term price impact vs. AI narrative. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst concern on margins/CAPEX: Stifel lowered its price target citing near‑term margin pressure from elevated AI spend; other firms have trimmed targets or reiterated caution ahead of guidance. That raises downside risk if management signals continued heavy spend. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Environmental & regulatory/ESG scrutiny: Reporting flags rising water use at AI data centers — a potential regulatory/community constraint and reputational risk that could affect future site approvals and costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/third‑party AI risk: A class action tied to an AI hiring tool used by Big Tech (including Microsoft customers) underscores litigation and compliance risks around AI deployments. Read More.

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).