Aveo Capital Partners LLC Sells 2,882 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aveo Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 20.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,927 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,882 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.83 on Friday, hitting $367.78. The company had a trading volume of 20,940,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,282,398. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $389.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $413.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 target price (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $499.97.

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.