Hickory Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,607 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,942,000. Microsoft accounts for about 1.7% of Hickory Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock worth $113,399,000 after buying an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock worth $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,314,000. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the third quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 42,176 shares of the software giant's stock worth $18,148,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $367.78. 20,940,221 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,282,398. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $389.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $413.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $499.97.

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.