Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV’s 2nd Largest Position

Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,223 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 9.9% of Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second 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 purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $393.04 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $390.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $455.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $355.67 and a one year high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein’s Mark Moerdler says MSFT may be “bottoming” and is a good entry as AI/capex investments should start to pay off; that bullish analyst framing is supporting investor confidence. Why one analyst believes Microsoft’s stock may be bottoming out
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft confirmed a $10 billion AI infrastructure expansion in Japan — a large, explicit capex commitment that underpins future Azure capacity and revenue potential in Asia. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Affirms $10B AI Infrastructure Expansion in Japan
• Positive Sentiment: MSFT will rent 30,000 Nvidia chips from Nscale (Norway) — an operational step to increase AI compute capacity quickly without owning all hardware, easing near-term deployment bottlenecks. Microsoft will rent 30,000 Nvidia chips from Nscale in Norway deal; expands Wyoming ops
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is buying 3,200 acres in Wyoming for a new data‑center campus — another concrete sign it’s expanding physical cloud capacity to capture backlog demand for Azure/AI services. Microsoft’s (MSFT) Data Center Push Continues with New 3,200 Acre Wyoming Campus
• Neutral Sentiment: Flow of bullish media/analyst coverage and heavy call‑option activity suggest short-term momentum (investors positioning for a rebound), but these are sentiment signals rather than fundamental proofs. Microsoft (MSFT) Outperforms Broader Market: What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Competition/partnership risk: Anthropic is targeting Microsoft’s most popular app, and OpenAI’s internal pressure to expand beyond Microsoft (including ties to Amazon) raises the prospect of reduced exclusivity and slower AI revenue leverage. These rival moves create execution and moat risk. Anthropic quietly targets Microsoft’s most popular app
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst/pricing pressure: Several firms have trimmed price targets (and some memos allege OpenAI constraints tied to Microsoft), keeping a cloud of uncertainty around valuation despite strong revenue growth. That keeps downside risk if capex squeezes margins longer than expected. Mizuho Trims Microsoft Price Target to $515: How Much Upside Is Left in This AI Titan?

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $450.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho lowered their price target on Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $580.87.

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).