Green Ridge Wealth Planning LLC Acquires Shares of 10,374 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Green Ridge Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 10,374 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $5,017,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.6% of Green Ridge Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,664,631,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56,160.8% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 60,116,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,073,486,000 after purchasing an additional 60,009,531 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $18,733,827,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 500.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 59,543,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $30,840,432,000 after purchasing an additional 49,618,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 49,640.3% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,967,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,905,904,000 after purchasing an additional 29,906,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $502.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Forty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $561.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Chevron announced a 20-year agreement to build Project Kilby, a 2.67-gigawatt natural-gas-powered facility in West Texas to support Microsoft’s AI and cloud data centers, reinforcing long-term demand for Microsoft’s AI infrastructure. Reuters article on Chevron signs power supply deal with Microsoft for Texas data center
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella called for broader AI access, lower-cost models, and more emphasis on trust and choice, which supports the case that Microsoft is positioning itself to compete beyond the expensive frontier-model race. Yahoo Finance article on Microsoft CEO Calls for Broader AI Access
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft was cited as part of a broader Big Tech pullback tied to AI sector rotation and regulatory overhang, suggesting the stock is being dragged by the group rather than by company-specific operating news. Yahoo Finance article on US Equity Indexes Mixed Amid Steep Decline in Communication Services
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple investor-rights firms announced or promoted a securities class action against Microsoft related to alleged Copilot-related disclosures, adding headline risk but not yet changing the underlying business outlook. GlobeNewswire article on MSFT Alert
• Negative Sentiment: New class-action headlines around Microsoft’s Copilot issues and alleged investor harm may weigh on sentiment by increasing legal uncertainty and keeping attention on prior stock declines. PR Newswire article on MSFT Stockholder Alert

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $367.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $412.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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).