Blue Square Asset Management LLC Has $3.69 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Blue Square Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,248 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.1% of Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 77.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth $989,814,000. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $846,072,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $428.15 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $326.94 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $420.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $424.58. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 28.74%.

Microsoft announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $475.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $470.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $506.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $502.97.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Amy Hood sold 38,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $410.55, for a total value of $15,600,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 496,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,784,292.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Profile

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.