Strategic Planning Group LLC Buys 3,779 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Strategic Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 49,323 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.0% of Strategic Planning Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Strategic Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 7.4% in the second quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,962,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 22.4% in the second quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,124 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,523,000 after buying an additional 2,767 shares during the last quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 22,001 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,944,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares during the period. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 5,836 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,903,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $617.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

MSFT stock opened at $515.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $512.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $465.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid 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 a boost from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Microsoft Company 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.