ATX Financial Planning LLC Buys New Shares in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

ATX Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,050 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,475,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.1% of ATX Financial Planning LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARK & TLK Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. ARK & TLK Investments LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rochester Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 700 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 4.9% in the third quarter. Shepherd Kaplan Krochuk LLC now owns 431 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fischer Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Fischer Investment Strategies LLC now owns 697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.20.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $379.40 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $412.27 and a 200 day moving average of $425.90. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $356.28 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly building a more than $1 billion annual AI and cloud business with ByteDance in China, underscoring strong demand for its Azure and OpenAI-related services. Microsoft Scores Massive China AI Win as TikTok Parent Eyes $1 Billion Spend
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s push to monetize ChatGPT with ads highlights continued AI commercialization, which may support sentiment around Microsoft’s OpenAI stake and AI strategy. OpenAI Brings ChatGPT Ads to Japan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is said to be moving Copilot to usage-based pricing and exploring cheaper AI models, a sign it is trying to improve margins as AI infrastructure costs rise. Microsoft (MSFT) Moves Copilot To Usage Based Pricing As AI Costs Rise
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say investors are increasingly worried about Microsoft’s AI valuation, spending, and monetization, which is weighing on the stock. Microsoft Faces AI Expectations Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing securities class-action lawsuits and investigations over alleged misleading AI-related statements, adding legal uncertainty. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential $3 billion Oracle cloud deal suggest possible friction in securing additional cloud capacity. Why Microsoft Stock Slumped Today

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft 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).