Stableford Capital II LLC Buys 1,201 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Stableford Capital II LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,202 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,201 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.0% of Stableford Capital II LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Stableford Capital II LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Montgomery Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $37,000. PMV Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Fiduciary Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Azure and AI demand remain the key bullish catalysts. Recent coverage highlights Azure revenue growth of 48%, above Microsoft’s 44%–45% forecast, with demand reportedly exceeding available capacity. Strong cloud growth, expanding Copilot adoption, and a reported $677 billion contract backlog support the view that Microsoft can monetize its AI investments. Microsoft Delivers Strong Azure Growth as AI Demand Exceeds Supply
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and long-term investors continue to favor Microsoft’s scale and financial quality. Commentary points to Microsoft’s high-margin Azure platform, OpenAI partnership, prudent infrastructure expansion, and durable competitive position. Bill Ackman and other investors continue to view MSFT as a long-term compounder, while Microsoft’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations with revenue up 18.8% year over year to $92.28 billion and EPS of $4.89. Microsoft’s Prudent Approach to the AI Infrastructure Buildout
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is expanding enterprise AI relationships. Estée Lauder selected Microsoft’s cloud, data, and AI tools to unify data and support personalized customer experiences. The deal reinforces Azure’s enterprise relevance, although its financial contribution to Microsoft was not disclosed. Estée Lauder Partners With Microsoft on AI and Data Tools
• Negative Sentiment: AI financing and cash-flow concerns are weighing on mega-cap technology stocks. Microsoft’s roughly $25 billion bond offering and heavy data-center spending have prompted debate about leverage and returns on AI infrastructure. Recent coverage notes that free cash flow fell to about $18.6 billion as capital expenditures increased, making investors more sensitive to execution and funding risks. AI Bond Funding Might Change the Case for Investing in Microsoft
• Negative Sentiment: Market-wide technology weakness amplified the pressure. The Nasdaq declined as investors reassessed expensive AI-linked stocks, while Oracle’s $10 billion debt sale revived concerns that aggressive AI buildouts may require substantial borrowing. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet and low debt-to-equity ratio distinguish it from weaker peers, but the sector-wide risk-off move still affected MSFT. Oracle Declines as AI Debt Worries Return

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total value of $43,388,826.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Amy Hood sold 41,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.27, for a total transaction of $20,764,903.98. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 533,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,888,830.48. This represents a 7.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 145,504 shares of company stock valued at $73,016,924 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Microsoft from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.54.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $507.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $513.39 and a 200-day moving average of $438.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $551.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The software giant reported $4.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $92.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 41.17%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 20.46%.

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.