Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Strategic Planning Group LLC's 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Strategic Planning Group LLC has increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 8.3%, making it the firm's 4th largest position, with holdings valued at approximately $24.5 million.
• Analysts have been bullish on Microsoft, with several firms raising their price targets, including BMO Capital Markets which now targets $650, and a general consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $617.63.
• Microsoft announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.91 per share, effective December 11th, signaling strong financial performance with a reported 18.1% year-over-year revenue growth.

Strategic Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,323 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.0% of Strategic Planning Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Strategic Planning Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 691,386,214 shares of the software giant's stock worth $259,539,471,000 after buying an additional 7,314,509 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 564,387.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 90,549,369 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $45,040,162,000 after purchasing an additional 90,533,328 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 62,267,822 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,374,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306,485 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $617.63.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $515.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $512.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is an increase from Microsoft's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Profile

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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