WealthPLAN Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

WealthPLAN Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 42.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,515 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.1% of WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $38,000. University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $50,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Westend Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 71.2% in the 3rd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. DZ Bank reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $586.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.28.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

MSFT opened at $414.22 on Thursday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $472.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $497.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 22.76%.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large investor and analyst support — Davis Selected Advisers added to its MSFT position, signaling institutional buying at current levels. Davis Selected Advisers boosts Microsoft stake
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/price‑target upside persists — coverage pieces note average upside targets well above current prices (one aggregation cites a ~605 average target), which supports the buy‑the‑dip narrative. Microsoft Stock Trades at $411, Showing Potential Upside of $605 Average Target
• Positive Sentiment: Major broker support remains — several firms have reiterated Outperform/Buy ratings after the results, keeping analyst conviction that MSFT is a long‑term AI winner. RBC Capital reiterates Outperform on Microsoft
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation & momentum check — recent writeups reassess Microsoft after a multi‑year run and the post‑earnings pullback, useful for investors deciding if the pullback is a buying opportunity or a reset. Assessing Microsoft (MSFT) Valuation After Multi Year Gains And Recent Momentum Shift
• Neutral Sentiment: Leadership moves in security & sales — Microsoft reshuffled security leadership (bringing back Hayete Gallot) and promoted sales leaders under its commercial CEO to accelerate AI sales execution; these are governance/execution items investors will track for remediation of past breaches and faster customer feedback. Microsoft brings back Hayete Gallot to run cybersecurity, as Charlie Bell takes new role
• Negative Sentiment: Product adoption and UX problems — reporting shows Microsoft’s pivotal AI/chatbot offerings are struggling with user adoption and engagement, a warning that commercial AI monetization may be harder and slower than hoped. Microsoft’s Pivotal AI Product Is Running Into Big Problems
• Negative Sentiment: Copilot adoption weakness — data indicates Copilot adoption has slipped (reported ~11.5%), raising concerns about customer uptake, branding/confusion and the timeline to meaningful enterprise revenue from Copilot‑style products. Microsoft Stock May Face Hurdles as Copilot Adoption Slips to 11.5% & Competition Intensifies
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings nuance — while MSFT beat overall EPS, reports highlighted cloud revenue that missed expectations and sharply higher capital expenditures, which helped trigger the post‑earnings selloff and keeps short‑term pressure on the stock. Microsoft: capital expenditures soar, cloud revenue falls short

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total transaction of $1,364,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares in the company, valued at $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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).