Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Cobblestone Asset Management LLC

Cobblestone Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 186.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,547 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,007 shares during the quarter. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $512.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $484.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $432.22. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $518.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.86.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.