Divergent Planning LLC Acquires 18,735 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Divergent Planning LLC significantly increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation by 977.8% during the 2nd quarter, acquiring an additional 18,735 shares.
• Microsoft's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $3.65 earnings per share and $76.44 billion in revenue, a growth of 18.1% from the previous year.
• The company also announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.91 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for November 20th.

Divergent Planning LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 977.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,651 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 18,735 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.9% of Divergent Planning LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Divergent Planning LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Real Talk Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the first quarter. Real Talk Capital LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 39.3% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 144,852 shares of the software giant's stock worth $54,376,000 after purchasing an additional 40,860 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $509.23 on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $512.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $459.93. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.33, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.54.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total value of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.

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