Bray Capital Advisors Sells 5,290 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bray Capital Advisors decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,946 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,290 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.8% of Bray Capital Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Bray Capital Advisors' holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock worth $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $3,314,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $4.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $391.85. The stock had a trading volume of 18,959,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,203,173. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $385.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $411.53. 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 one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 prior year, the business earned $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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $493.13.

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.