Coerente Capital Management Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Coerente Capital Management raised its Microsoft stake by 2.0% to 112,598 shares (about $54.46M), making MSFT roughly 9.9% of its portfolio and its second-largest holding.
• Q3 results beat expectations with $4.27 EPS vs. $4.04 and $82.89B revenue, while Azure growth accelerated and Microsoft reported over 20M paid Copilot users, supporting AI monetization and 18.3% YoY revenue growth.
• Notable insider moves: EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares (~$5.05M) and Director John W. Stanton bought 5,000 shares (~$1.99M); Microsoft also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 (paid June 11, yield ~0.9%).

Coerente Capital Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 112,598 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 9.9% of Coerente Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Coerente Capital Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $54,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. IRON Financial LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 6,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the last quarter. PMG Family Office LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $828,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 70,175 shares of the software giant's stock worth $36,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 949,901 shares of the software giant's stock worth $493,860,000 after purchasing an additional 9,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 18,340 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, with a total value of $1,986,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DZ Bank reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $641.00 target price (down from $645.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $540.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $563.72.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $424.46 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $395.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $448.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.04 by $0.23. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.54 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 22.76%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 EPS beat and revenue roughly in line — Microsoft reported $4.27 EPS, ahead of consensus, and revenue near Street expectations, which helped validate the company’s growth trajectory. Microsoft (MSFT) Beats Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Azure / Intelligent Cloud acceleration: management said cloud growth accelerated (company commentary and charts show mid-to-high‑30s/40% growth in Azure), easing investor worries that AI spending isn’t yet translating to demand. Microsoft tops Wall Street expectations, reports accelerating Azure growth and $37B AI run rate
• Positive Sentiment: Copilot adoption and monetization showing traction — Microsoft reported over 20M paid Copilot users with rising engagement, supporting future software/recurring-revenue upside. Microsoft says it has over 20M paid Copilot users
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance roughly in line — Q4 revenue guidance was near consensus, so the company isn’t signaling an immediate downshift, but investors will watch next‑quarter detail for AI margin leverage. Press release / slide deck
• Neutral Sentiment: LinkedIn AI products on revenue track — Microsoft said LinkedIn hiring agents could reach ~$450M in annual revenue, a niche but tangible AI monetization path. LinkedIn's AI hiring agents on track for $450 million
• Negative Sentiment: CapEx surge and margin pressure — disclosures and third‑party summaries show capex rose sharply (large spend on data centers/AI hardware), which squeezes near‑term margins and fuels investor concern about ROI timing. Q3 earnings: capex surges (Quiver)
• Negative Sentiment: Partnership & competitive noise — OpenAI’s revised terms (non‑exclusive distribution) and the broader partner shifts to rivals like Amazon raise strategic questions about Microsoft’s privileged access and cloud leverage. OpenAI-Microsoft exclusivity reset coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Workforce and restructuring signals — Microsoft expects headcount to decline and has offered voluntary buyouts; that reduces near‑term payroll but underscores cost pressures tied to the AI buildout. Microsoft expects headcount to decrease

Microsoft Company 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).

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