Objectivity Squared LLC Has $2.69 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Key Points

• Objectivity Squared LLC more than doubled its Microsoft stake in the fourth quarter, increasing holdings by 102.1% to 5,571 shares worth about $2.69 million. Microsoft now makes up roughly 1.5% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Microsoft’s latest quarter beat expectations, with EPS of $4.27 versus the $4.06 estimate and revenue of $82.89 billion, up 18.3% year over year. Profitability remained strong, with a net margin of 39.34% and return on equity of 31.94%.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, payable June 11, while analysts remain broadly positive. Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a target price of $560.88.

Objectivity Squared LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 102.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,571 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,814 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.5% of Objectivity Squared LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Objectivity Squared LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $450.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $356.28 and a one year high of $555.45. 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 company's fifty day moving average price is $402.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $434.62.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.46 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 21.67%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,486,322.16. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,922,874.02. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft and Nvidia teased “a new era of PC,” with reports pointing to new Surface hardware and a possible AI-focused chip announcement at Computex, which could refresh the Windows/PC upgrade cycle. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft will unveil a new coding model and other in-house AI tools at next week’s Build conference reinforce the company’s AI monetization story and support sentiment around GitHub Copilot and Azure demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft’s latest earnings backdrop remains solid, with revenue growth of 18.3% and better-than-expected EPS, helping investors justify the stock’s premium valuation.
• Positive Sentiment: Several bullish writeups and analyst commentary say MSFT still has room to run because Azure, M365 cloud, and AI revenue are expanding faster than the broader software market. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is also drawing attention from investors, fund managers, and even congressional buyers, which supports the stock’s defensive-growth reputation but does not change fundamentals on its own.
• Negative Sentiment: A TechCrunch report says Microsoft is facing backlash for threatening a security researcher over unpatched bugs and code disclosure, adding some reputational noise ahead of Build. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $620.00 to $515.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $556.00 to $555.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Microsoft from $392.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. China Renaissance cut their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on Microsoft from $593.00 to $571.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $560.88.

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.