MA Private Wealth Sells 1,904 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MA Private Wealth lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 47.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,146 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,904 shares during the period. MA Private Wealth's holdings in Microsoft were worth $905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently 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 increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of MSFT traded down $3.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $375.39. 35,146,826 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,581,893. 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 52 week low of $367.31 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $2.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $404.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.77.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its 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 prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Company 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.