Strategic Planning Inc. Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Strategic Planning Inc. increased its Microsoft position by 1,733% in the first quarter, ending with 32,115 shares worth approximately $11.9 million. Microsoft now represents 6% of the firm’s portfolio, while institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 42 Buy ratings and five Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $560.27. Microsoft also exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $4.74 in EPS and $90.01 billion in revenue, up 17.7% year over year.
• Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, equivalent to a 0.7% annualized yield. Meanwhile, insiders sold 37,310 shares worth approximately $17.3 million over the past 90 days.

Strategic Planning Inc. raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1,733.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 32,115 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 30,363 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.0% of Strategic Planning Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Strategic Planning Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.9% in the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pollock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,453,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Arete Research raised their price target on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, CLSA restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 $21,188,276.96. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 37,310 shares of company stock worth $17,256,219 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $496.88 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $349.20 and a 52 week high of $553.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $409.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $407.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.65 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.27%.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman reaffirmed his bullish Azure thesis, arguing that continued capacity investment and Microsoft 365’s embedded customer base can support high-teens earnings growth. Microsoft Stock Rises as Ackman Reaffirms Azure Bet
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing accelerating Copilot adoption and infrastructure growth. Wells Fargo also maintained an overweight rating and lifted its target to $700, reinforcing the view that the stock’s AI-driven recovery has further upside. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft began gradually combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified AI platform. The planned “super app” could improve user adoption, cross-selling and Microsoft’s competitive position against ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Consumer and Enterprise Copilot
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft accepted IREN’s first AI data-center deployment under a $9.7 billion cloud agreement. The milestone supports Azure’s ability to secure additional computing capacity as AI infrastructure demand remains strong. IREN Hands Microsoft Its First AI Cloud Deployment
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly closing or restructuring numerous China offices and joint ventures, while retaining an Azure-linked presence. The move may reduce geopolitical exposure but could also limit access to the Chinese market. Microsoft Retreats in China
• Negative Sentiment: A report said Microsoft plans to cut carbon-removal purchases while AI-related emissions rise, creating potential reputational and environmental concerns. Microsoft Carbon Removal Purchases Report

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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