Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Buys 9,765 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 175,591 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 9,765 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.2% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $74,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $509.54.

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Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $380.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $421.30. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $376.91 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

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.

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