Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Avantax Planning Partners increased its Microsoft stake by 24.4% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 51,692 shares valued at approximately $19.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft.
• Microsoft reported strong quarterly results, with revenue of $90.01 billion and earnings of $4.74 per share, surpassing analyst expectations. Azure revenue rose 43% and Microsoft 365 Copilot reached 30 million paid seats.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with 42 Buy ratings and six Holds, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $554.73 price target. However, executives sold $10.5 million of stock over the past three months, while the company faces a U.K. investigation into Microsoft 365 subscription pricing.

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 24.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 51,692 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 10,139 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.5% of Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canal Insurance CO grew its holdings in Microsoft by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Canal Insurance CO now owns 57,500 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $21,285,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,052,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the first quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 7,691 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,847,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 7,452 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,758,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the period. Finally, Beckerman Institutional LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 11.0% in the first quarter. Beckerman Institutional LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. CLSA reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. New Street Research decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $554.73.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. The trade was a 8.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft reported fiscal Q4 revenue of approximately $90.0 billion, up 18% year over year and above the $87.6 billion consensus estimate. Adjusted earnings of $4.74 per share also exceeded expectations of $4.21, marking the company’s 14th consecutive “double beat.” Microsoft Q4 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Azure revenue grew 43%, exceeding analysts’ expectations of roughly 40%, and the cloud platform surpassed $100 billion in annual revenue. The results eased concerns that Microsoft’s AI infrastructure investments may be outpacing customer demand. Microsoft Tops Quarterly Cloud Growth Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft said Microsoft 365 Copilot reached 30 million paid seats, providing evidence of growing monetization for its AI products. The company also recorded a $3.2 billion gain from its Anthropic investment, although returns from its OpenAI investment were more mixed. Azure Crosses $100 Billion in Annual Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft maintained its AI capital-expenditure outlook rather than following Alphabet’s recent increase. Investors viewed the spending discipline as supportive of margins and free cash flow, while first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $89.9 billion to $91.0 billion was slightly above consensus. Microsoft Keeps Capex Forecast Unchanged
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors had positioned for an unusually large post-earnings move, with options implying roughly a 6% to 7% swing. This elevated volatility reflects the importance of Microsoft’s results to the broader AI investment theme.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft faces a U.K. regulatory investigation into whether customers were misled about Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscription pricing. The probe creates potential reputational and compliance risks, though its near-term financial impact is unclear. UK Regulator Investigates Microsoft Over 365 Subscriptions
• Negative Sentiment: Disney’s decision to replace GitHub Copilot with OpenAI’s Codex highlights intensifying competition in AI coding tools. Multiple shareholder lawsuits concerning alleged Copilot and Azure disclosures also remain an overhang.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $390.54 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $349.20 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $396.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $405.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The company had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Microsoft 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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