KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp Makes New $1.13 Million Investment in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,216 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,131,000. Microsoft makes up about 1.6% of KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $389.02 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $420.80 and its 200-day moving average is $473.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $632.00 to $659.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $620.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.87.

Microsoft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Product/partnership wins that support Azure and Copilot monetization—Microsoft announced integrations and partner expansions that help drive enterprise adoption of Copilot and Fabric, which support long-term revenue growth. What Microsoft (MSFT)’s Lumel-Fabric Integration Means For Shareholders
• Positive Sentiment: Accenture announced a collaboration to embed “agentic” security and resilience into managed detection and response using Microsoft technology—this strengthens enterprise security demand for Azure and security services. Accenture Collaborates with Microsoft to Bring Agentic Security and Business Resilience to the Front Lines of Cyber Defense
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is consolidating its Copilot/AI teams and hiring small AI startups (e.g., Cove team) to accelerate product development—moves aimed at simplifying offerings and catching up on model capabilities. These steps support product focus and future monetization. Microsoft Unifies AI Division To End Copilot Confusion, Boost Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Channel and partner activity continues (Expedience, Insentra, others joining Microsoft programs), which is constructive but incremental for top-line growth. Expedience Software Joins Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program to Deliver Copilot-Powered Proposal Automation in Microsoft Word
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor commentary is mixed: some outlets pitch a buy-the-dip case while others highlight heavy capex and infrastructure costs—this fuels volatility but not an immediate fundamentals shock. Microsoft Stock Has Been Absolutely Slammed This Year. Is It Finally Time to Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: Potential legal conflict with Amazon/OpenAI: reports say Microsoft is weighing legal action over a reported Amazon–OpenAI cloud deal that could undermine Microsoft’s long-held OpenAI exclusivity—this is a major strategic risk to Azure AI differentiation and revenue. US agency asks companies to secure Microsoft tool after Stryker cyberattack
• Negative Sentiment: Security incidents and guidance: a recent medical?device cyberattack tied to Microsoft endpoint tools prompted U.S. agencies to warn companies to harden those tools; separate reports flag SharePoint as an attack vector—these raise near?term risk and potential remediation costs. US agency asks companies to secure Microsoft tool after Stryker cyberattack
• Negative Sentiment: Management & product headwinds: leadership reassignments and criticism about product competitiveness (Suleyman reassigned, debate over model quality) add execution uncertainty while investors fret over rising infrastructure costs driving margin pressure. “World-Class Models”: Microsoft Stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) Drops as Suleyman Reassigned

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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).