Cobblestone Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Cobblestone Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,645 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $32,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $519.71 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $512.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.83.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This is a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $617.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft 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.