EMC Capital Management Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

EMC Capital Management cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 85.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,359 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,110 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.3% of EMC Capital Management's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. EMC Capital Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,204,664,000 after acquiring an additional 49,735 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 14,514 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,245,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tealwood Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,033 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,596,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $390.58. 13,741,615 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,928,355. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $407.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $419.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

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, 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 firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.