Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Holdings Lifted by Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 69,984 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.0% of Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $401.72 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $445.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $484.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC cut their price objective on Microsoft from $667.00 to $588.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 target price on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.95.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and AI strategists argue Microsoft is a core AI infrastructure winner — a driver for investor interest given Azure, identity/auth layers and high switching costs that position MSFT to benefit from AI-driven enterprise spending. AI Is Separating Software Winners From Losers
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s new collaboration with Starlink signals expanded connectivity and potential Azure edge use cases (rural/remote customers), supporting cloud revenue optionality and positive sentiment around partnership-driven growth. Microsoft Is Teaming up With Starlink
• Positive Sentiment: An insider purchase (director John Stanton) added a small but visible vote of confidence after the post-earnings sell-off, which can support short-term sentiment and stabilize shares. Director Stanton John Just Bought $2 Million of Microsoft Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: The White House’s planned power-cost pledge with big cloud/data-center firms (including Microsoft) reduces one operational risk for hyperscalers and could be a modest long-term positive for data-center economics, though timing/implementation remain uncertain. White House to host Big Tech pledge
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella’s public comments pushing back on low-quality “AI slop” reflect management trying to shape the narrative around responsible, enterprise-grade AI — a reputational plus but contributed to short-term volatility as markets parsed the tone. Satya Nadella Rails Against AI Slop
• Negative Sentiment: Japan’s Fair Trade Commission raided Microsoft Japan offices in a probe into possible restrictions around Azure customers using rival cloud services — this antitrust scrutiny is an immediate regulatory overhang that can hurt sentiment and add legal/operational uncertainty. Microsoft Japan raided over suspected violation of anti-monopoly law
• Negative Sentiment: Market debate continues over Azure growth pacing vs. very large AI infrastructure capex (management flagged elevated AI-related investment), which knocked the stock after Q2 despite beats — investors are weighing near-term margin/cash impact against longer-term AI revenue upside. Microsoft Stock Opinions on Fiscal Q2 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Broader sector risks — heightened talk of AI regulation and a Magnificent Seven rotation — keep pressure on valuations and can amplify moves in MSFT even when fundamentals are solid; this contributes to volatility until clarity on regulation and data-center costs emerges. Will Regulating AI Cripple AI Stocks?

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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).