Cobblestone Asset Management LLC Makes New $203,000 Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cobblestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 540 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 534.5% in the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $399.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $414.86 and its 200 day moving average is $384.83. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $275.37 and a 52 week high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

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.