Simplicity Wealth LLC Purchases 4,757 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 53,229 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,757 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.1% of Simplicity Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taylor Securities Services Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $2,616,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 12,492 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,041,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2,332.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,746,017 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,262,509,000 after acquiring an additional 6,468,645 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 272,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $131,750,000 after acquiring an additional 49,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Overbrook Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 87,535 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,334,000 after acquiring an additional 2,384 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Arete Research lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $730.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Microsoft from a “market outperform” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $502.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Dbs Bank decreased their target price on Microsoft from $678.00 to $573.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Forty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.40.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft joined 25 tech companies in urging U.S. policymakers not to impose broad restrictions on open-weight and open-source AI models, a stance that supports its broader AI ecosystem strategy and could help preserve flexibility for future product development. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft also backed a coalition letter with Nvidia, Meta, and other firms arguing that open-weight AI is important for U.S. leadership, reinforcing investor confidence that the company remains a major AI platform player rather than being boxed into one model provider. Business Insider article
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s expanded Databricks partnership extends a key cloud/data-AI relationship through the 2030s, which should help Azure adoption and strengthen long-term enterprise demand for Microsoft’s cloud services. TipRanks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews ahead of Microsoft’s July 29 earnings report say the big investor focus will be FY2027 CapEx guidance and Azure growth, with analysts expecting strong results but worrying that AI infrastructure spending could weigh on free cash flow and margins. MarketBeat article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms issued class-action alerts and deadline reminders tied to Microsoft securities-fraud claims, including allegations related to Copilot disclosures, which adds headline risk and may keep some investors cautious into earnings. GlobeNewswire article
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness tied to AI spending fears also weighed on Microsoft, as investors sold mega-cap names after seeing massive capital outlays across the sector and questioning near-term returns on AI investment. Fox Business article

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total transaction of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares in the company, valued at $19,122,009.12. This trade represents a 8.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction 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 represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,762 shares of company stock worth $10,508,361 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $381.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average of $398.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $408.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $349.20 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.46 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.7 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Microsoft’s 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).