Blue Trust Inc. Reduces Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,512 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 19,721 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.5% of Blue Trust Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $41,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 target price (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.97.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded down $3.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $367.78. 20,940,221 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,246,383. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $388.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $412.73. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 prior 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 Announces Dividend

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