Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 929,084 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 10,025 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 7.5% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $391,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew 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 valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in 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. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 price objective (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $505.41.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $7.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $388.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,826,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,240,524. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $391.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $414.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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.

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 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 firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Microsoft 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.