Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 38,569 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $14,387,000. Microsoft accounts for about 6.9% of Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at $27,338,370,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $18,306,443,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 30.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 41,675,076 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,862,000 after purchasing an additional 9,814,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 10.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,323,744 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,852,884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784,809 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Microsoft from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Melius Research set a $665.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Forty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $592.15.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $531.87 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $506.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $443.46. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $349.20 and a 52-week high of $553.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.65 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism and earnings expectations: BMO Capital raised its Microsoft price target to $600 while maintaining an Outperform rating, citing potential upside for Azure. Bernstein also reiterated Outperform and lifted its target to $662. Analysts expect Microsoft’s Oct. 28 results to benefit from Azure demand and expanding enterprise AI adoption. Boeing and Microsoft AI platform article
• Positive Sentiment: AI and cloud growth remain the core bull case: Commentary points to robust Azure infrastructure demand, commercial customer commitments and Microsoft’s ability to monetize AI across enterprise markets. Its new Maia AI chips could eventually reduce reliance on outside processors and lower inference costs, although execution remains important. Microsoft Q1 outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Xbox and industry partnerships: Microsoft plans next-generation Xbox consoles and handheld devices for the 2027–2028 holiday seasons. Separately, its partnership with AMD is intended to improve Xbox performance, while Boeing’s new Dataliner aircraft-data platform uses Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and could support enterprise cloud adoption. Next-generation Xbox article
• Neutral Sentiment: Tokenized-stock objection: Microsoft joined Alphabet and Goldman Sachs in objecting to having its shares listed on a proposed OKX-ICE tokenized-stock platform. The move may limit potential trading exposure but does not directly affect operating results. Tokenized stocks article
• Negative Sentiment: U.K. AI data-center withdrawal: Microsoft withdrew as anchor tenant from Nscale’s planned Loughton, Essex, facility because grid-connection delays threatened the power supply. The decision highlights electricity and permitting constraints that could slow Azure capacity expansion and increase infrastructure costs. Microsoft U.K. data-center withdrawal
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and execution pressure: Britain’s competition watchdog is considering strategic-market-status rules for Microsoft’s business software, potentially increasing compliance requirements. Investors are also watching whether very large AI capital expenditures generate sufficient revenue and cash flow to justify the spending. U.K. regulation article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI-stock weakness: A selloff across AI-related equities and concerns about financing, power availability and uncertain returns are weighing on large technology stocks, including Microsoft. The company’s elevated valuation leaves less room for disappointment if Azure growth or earnings guidance falls short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices and digital platforms. Its products and services are used by consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

The company’s principal offerings include the Windows operating system; Microsoft 365 productivity applications such as Word, Excel, Teams and Outlook; Azure cloud computing and infrastructure services; Dynamics business applications; and enterprise security solutions.