Mariner LLC Has $2.60 Billion Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,374,644 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 496,446 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.1% of Mariner LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,599,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 717,942,580 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $347,211,391,000 after buying an additional 15,955,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 306,150,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,060,557,000 after buying an additional 6,388,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,618,400 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,056,019,000 after buying an additional 1,911,142 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 121,220,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,624,690,000 after buying an additional 980,439 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $50,664,631,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Raymond James Financial cut Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “market outperform” rating for the company. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.20.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.3%

Microsoft stock opened at $399.76 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $411.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $428.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 last year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is getting credit for continued AI momentum, including a new coding model, a quantum-computing milestone with Quantinuum, and new availability of NuPlay in the Microsoft Marketplace, all of which reinforce the company’s long-term platform strength. Article: Microsoft (MSFT) and Quantinuum (QNT) Hit Quantum Milestone, Moving Closer to Commercial Reality
• Positive Sentiment: Satya Nadella’s comments that Xbox must become “sustainable” were interpreted as a sign Microsoft is willing to push for better margins and discipline in its gaming business. Article: Microsoft Stock (MSFT) Jumps as CEO Satya Nadella Says Xbox Needs to Become ‘Sustainable’
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators continue to argue that Microsoft’s valuation reset could make the stock more attractive, especially if AI, cloud, and quantum investments eventually accelerate growth. Article: Microsoft’s Giant’s Valuation Reset Creates a Real Dilemma
• Neutral Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s portfolio shifts and broader market chatter around AI leaders reflect ongoing institutional debate about Microsoft’s role in the AI trade, but do not directly change the business outlook. Article: Microsoft or Alphabet: Billionaire Bill Ackman Goes All In on One AI Stock, Dumps the Other
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is facing a shareholder lawsuit alleging it failed to disclose slowing Azure growth and the need for heavy AI infrastructure spending, which raises concerns about margins, transparency, and near-term cloud execution. Article: Microsoft sued by shareholders over expenses, cloud business, AI
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms have launched securities-fraud investigations and class-action efforts against Microsoft, adding legal overhang and headline risk for investors. Article: Securities Fraud Investigation Into Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Announced
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft is weighing shutdowns or spin-out options for parts of Xbox, plus insider-selling headlines, reinforce investor worries that some businesses may need restructuring and tighter cost control. Article: Report: Microsoft weighing up spinning off Xbox

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).