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

Objectivity Squared LLC raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 102.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,571 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,814 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.5% of Objectivity Squared LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Objectivity Squared LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,059 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,832,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 11,370 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,499,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC now owns 35,549 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,192,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,941 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,349,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Finally, GDS Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 59,100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,582,000 after buying an additional 588 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft News Roundup

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. China Renaissance decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $560.88.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $450.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $402.09 and a 200-day moving average of $434.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $356.28 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) 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 company had revenue of $82.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.94% and a net margin of 39.34%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Microsoft Company 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).