Lynch Asset Management Inc. Has $9.41 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Lynch Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 24.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,425 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.2% of Lynch Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Lynch Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Merited Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Merited Wealth LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $884,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,622 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,782,000 after buying an additional 4,558 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,924 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,265,000 after buying an additional 4,242 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 11,132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,121,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth $29,677,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus lowered its price target on Microsoft but kept a buy rating, still implying roughly 32% upside from current levels. Benzinga / The Fly report on Argus price target cut
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to point to Microsoft’s AI and Azure buildout as a long-term driver, with one piece arguing that AI data centers are effectively “pre-sold,” suggesting strong demand for Microsoft’s infrastructure spending. Article on AI spending returns
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s recent earnings showed the company beat expectations on both revenue and EPS, reinforcing that the core business remains healthy despite the stock’s weak price action.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Xbox/gaming unit is facing restructuring under Asha Sharma, including layoffs and tough decisions about studio strategy, which adds uncertainty but could improve efficiency over time. FT article on Xbox changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The Federal Reserve named Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to a jobs-and-productivity task force, keeping Microsoft in the policy conversation around AI and labor, but with no immediate financial impact. Yahoo Finance report on Fed task force
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued notices about a securities fraud class action tied to alleged AI/Copilot misrepresentations, increasing headline risk and investor caution. PR Newswire lawsuit notice
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Starbucks is building internal AI to replace some Microsoft software underscore a broader threat: customers may use AI to reduce reliance on Microsoft’s enterprise products, which could pressure future software revenue. MarketBeat Starbucks AI cost-cutting article
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft’s AI expansion is also drawing criticism over rising emissions and heavy capital spending, feeding worries that the company is paying more for growth while investors question the payback period. TechXplore emissions report

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $385.10 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $402.33 and a 200 day moving average of $414.08. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities raised Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $595.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Argus reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.84.

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).