Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. Cuts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 55.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,730 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,336 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during 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 during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during 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 in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $499.97.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $367.78. 20,940,221 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,246,383. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $388.25 and its 200-day moving average is $412.73. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year 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 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. 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.