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

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 42.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. 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 reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. CLSA reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. President Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $558.64.

Microsoft Trading Up 15.5%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $451.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $397.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $405.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.07% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors 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 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 20.27%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).