Squire Investment Management Company LLC Takes Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Squire Investment Management Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 656 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of MSFT traded down $12.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $495.00. The company had a trading volume of 31,963,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,697,988. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company's fifty day moving average price is $509.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $450.60.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 149,205 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 790,852 shares in the company, valued at $399,206,272.56. This trade represents a 15.87% 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Wedbush upped their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $612.54.

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.