Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Squire Investment Management Company LLC

Squire Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 768 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the quarter. Squire Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 386.7% in the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $618.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $504.78, for a total transaction of $75,315,699.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,206,272.56. This represents a 15.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $510.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $513.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.29. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.