Hardy Reed LLC Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hardy Reed LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,504 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.0% of Hardy Reed LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Hardy Reed LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $860,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037,857 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $387.30 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $385.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.53. 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 company has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment 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 stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.13.

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.

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