Cauble & Harre Wealth Management Inc. Buys 5,410 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Cauble & Harre Wealth Management initiated a Microsoft position by purchasing 5,410 shares worth approximately $2.02 million, making MSFT 1.6% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Microsoft insiders sold 150,314 shares valued at roughly $75.4 million during the last quarter, including sizable sales by CEOs Judson Althoff and Satya Nadella under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $581.24. Microsoft recently exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.98, and continues investing heavily in Azure and AI infrastructure.

Cauble & Harre Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,410 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,018,000. Microsoft comprises 1.6% of Cauble & Harre Wealth Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth $1,815,000. Causey Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $1,689,000. Keebeck Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $18,389,000. Blue Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Finally, Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,307,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This trade represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. The trade was a 15.09% 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 150,314 shares of company stock valued at $75,404,992 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft unveiled its Maia 300 custom AI accelerator, designed for multi-gigawatt deployment across Azure data centers. Management says it can deliver 40% more tokens per megawatt than a GPU-based system, potentially lowering inference costs and reducing reliance on Nvidia and AMD hardware. What Could Microsoft Gain From Its Maia 300 AI Chip Rollout?
• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism remains focused on Azure growth, Microsoft’s AI backlog, and more than $130 billion in reported data-center leases. The scale of commitments supports long-term demand for Azure and Copilot, although it also raises capital-spending risks. Microsoft Reports $130 Billion in Data Center Leases
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its Microsoft price target to $600 from $512 and expects the upcoming fiscal first-quarter report to show improving differentiation in software. Earnings are scheduled for October 28. Microsoft Price Target Raised by Barclays
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s Azure chief reportedly seeks at least 20% cost cuts in an effort to offset soaring AI data-center expenses. The move could improve efficiency and margins, but it also highlights pressure from the company’s aggressive investment cycle. Microsoft Weighs 20% Cost Cuts in Azure
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is introducing new AI-enabled Surface devices and an Xbox Nano Controller, supporting its broader push to put generative AI into consumer hardware. These products are strategically relevant but are unlikely to materially affect near-term results.
• Negative Sentiment: Hot inflation data pushed bond yields higher and triggered a broad selloff in AI-related shares, increasing concern that expensive AI infrastructure projects may face higher financing costs and tougher valuation scrutiny.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to “hold,” while Erste Group made a minor reduction to its FY2028 earnings forecast. These actions add to near-term caution following the stock’s strong run.
• Negative Sentiment: EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares worth approximately $4.0 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Because the sale was scheduled in advance and represents only 1.3% of her holdings, it is a limited bearish signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft issued security updates addressing more than 1,400 vulnerabilities could renew concerns about cybersecurity exposure, though patching the flaws is ultimately protective.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Mizuho cut their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered Microsoft from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, William Blair started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $581.24.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $533.69 on Thursday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $504.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $438.68. 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 $3.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company that develops software, cloud services, devices, gaming products and business solutions. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the company is best known for the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office productivity software. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, and serves consumers, businesses, governments and educational institutions worldwide.

Microsoft's productivity and business offerings include Microsoft 365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, along with collaboration tools including Teams.

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