Castleark Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Castleark Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 369,460 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,856 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.2% of Castleark Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $178,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. ARK & TLK Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Fischer Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% 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 hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This represents 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 worth $10,508,361 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $390.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $411.08 and its 200-day moving average is $428.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s broader AI and cloud story remains intact, with recent commentary highlighting strong Azure demand, continued Copilot momentum, and bullish analyst views that the stock is still attractive long term.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share reinforces Microsoft’s cash generation and shareholder-return profile.
• Neutral Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments about using AI more efficiently and Microsoft’s tighter controls on third-party AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude suggest a focus on governance and cost discipline rather than a direct business setback.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is weighing a spinoff or restructuring of Xbox, along with expected layoffs and budget cuts, are the biggest near-term headwind and are likely weighing on sentiment around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports of job cuts in Microsoft’s Azure unit in China and broader worries about AI infrastructure spending are adding caution about near-term execution and profitability.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial downgraded Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 9th. President Capital boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

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).