Brown Financial Advisory Acquires New Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Brown Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 648 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $273,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.2% of Brown Financial Advisory's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.59.

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Microsoft Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $11.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $378.80. 21,606,792 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,523,498. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 simple moving average is $405.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.06. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $376.91 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 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.