XY Planning Network Inc. Acquires 3,879 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

XY Planning Network Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 119.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,126 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,879 shares during the quarter. XY Planning Network Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during 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. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frankly Finances LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $680.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $540.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Forty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.49.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft will begin reporting quarterly Azure revenue in fiscal 2027 and reorganize its financial reporting from three segments into two AI-focused categories. Azure generated approximately $29.4 billion in quarterly revenue and $101.9 billion for fiscal 2026, providing investors with more visibility into cloud growth and AI demand. Microsoft to reveal Azure cloud sales in financial reporting shift
• Positive Sentiment: Citi reaffirmed a Buy rating and $600 price target, while other analysts cited Microsoft’s large AI backlog, Azure’s more than $100 billion annual revenue and the potential for improved AI economics. The company’s latest earnings also showed strong momentum, with revenue up 17.7% year over year and a substantial earnings beat. Analyst reaffirms Buy on Microsoft
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft-backed OpenAI launched GPT-6 Astra, potentially strengthening Microsoft’s AI ecosystem and demand for Azure infrastructure. Microsoft is also securing long-term power capacity for data centers and expanding Microsoft 365 Copilot integrations. OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares worth about $43.4 million under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the sale limits its significance, although it reduced his holdings by 15.09% and adds to recent insider selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft will impose monthly limits on Xbox cloud-gaming hours for Game Pass subscribers beginning in November as service costs rise. The change may improve economics but could hurt consumer sentiment and gaming engagement. Microsoft to impose time limits on Xbox cloud gaming
• Negative Sentiment: Investors continue to weigh Microsoft’s roughly $116 billion AI infrastructure spending plan, rising data-center costs and pressure on cloud margins. The key risk is whether the large backlog converts into profitable cash flow rather than simply future revenue.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $510.12 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $441.99 and a 200-day moving average of $415.21. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $349.20 and a 12-month high of $553.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $90.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 31.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 86,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.46, for a total transaction of $43,388,826.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 486,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $244,092,173.98. This trade represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.89, for a total transaction of $4,878,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,007,086.83. This represents a 9.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 108,335 shares of company stock worth $53,499,700. 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).