Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,182 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $920,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Lord & Richards Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.97.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.83 on Friday, reaching $367.78. The stock had a trading volume of 20,940,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,282,398. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $389.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $413.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 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.