40,999 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Purchased by CFO4Life Group LLC

Key Points

• CFO4Life Group LLC purchased 40,999 Microsoft shares worth approximately $15.3 million, making Microsoft its ninth-largest holding and representing about 2.1% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: 42 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy, with an average price target of $589.71. Several firms recently raised their targets, citing strong Azure and artificial-intelligence growth.
• Microsoft exceeded quarterly expectations with $4.74 in earnings per share and $90.01 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 17.7% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98, equivalent to a 0.7% yield.

CFO4Life Group LLC bought a new position in shares of 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 40,999 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $15,293,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.1% of CFO4Life Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% during the first quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sequent Planning LLC now owns 3,733 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,382,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the software giant's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,052,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. William Blair started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 5th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on Microsoft from $512.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $589.71.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $539.44 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $504.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $439.96.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

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

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $675 from $525 and reiterated a Buy rating, citing accelerating Azure and Microsoft 365 growth driven by artificial intelligence. The firm believes Microsoft’s valuation remains reasonable despite its recent rally. UBS raises Microsoft price target
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms have lifted their targets, with analysts highlighting Azure momentum, approximately 30 million Copilot seats, Microsoft’s commercial backlog and the potential for a larger-than-usual earnings beat. The October 28 results will provide an important test of whether AI spending is translating into revenue and profit.
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s Maia 300 custom AI accelerator is expected to scale across Azure data centers and reportedly deliver more tokens per megawatt than conventional GPU systems. The chip could reduce inference costs and Microsoft’s dependence on Nvidia and AMD hardware. Microsoft Maia 300 AI chip
• Positive Sentiment: AI care-management company Tucuvi joined Microsoft’s Pegasus startup program, potentially expanding Microsoft’s enterprise AI pipeline and go-to-market reach in healthcare. Microsoft also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.98 from $0.91, signaling continued confidence in cash generation. Tucuvi joins Microsoft Pegasus Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Azure management is seeking roughly 20% cost reductions could improve efficiency and margins, but also underscore the pressure created by Microsoft’s substantial AI data-center investments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft’s $10 million contribution to a White House ballroom project is unlikely to affect near-term financial results, though it could attract political or reputational scrutiny. Microsoft White House ballroom contribution
• Negative Sentiment: Higher inflation and bond yields have pressured AI valuations and raised concerns about the financing cost and returns of large infrastructure projects. Microsoft’s strong balance sheet makes it less vulnerable than smaller AI companies, but valuation sensitivity remains a risk.
• Negative Sentiment: Phillip Securities downgraded Microsoft to Hold, while reports of security vulnerabilities, executive share sales and intense competition from rapidly growing AI companies add caution. Amy Hood’s sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, limiting its significance.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Hood sold 7,305 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.42, for a total transaction of $3,984,293.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 555,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $302,924,086.32. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total value of $2,388,068.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 150,314 shares of company stock worth $75,404,992. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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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