Global Retirement Partners LLC Purchases 2,349 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,268 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,349 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.8% of Global Retirement Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Global Retirement Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $62,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $3.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $390.43. The stock had a trading volume of 10,038,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,247,445. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $385.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.13.

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.