bLong Financial LLC Makes New $4.48 Million Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

bLong Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,627 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $4,479,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.7% of bLong Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position 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 during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.97.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

MSFT stock traded down $3.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $367.78. The stock had a trading volume of 20,940,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,282,398. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $389.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.21. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Microsoft Company 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.