Capital Investment Counsel Inc Has $20.92 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,637 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,290 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.2% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Capital Investment Counsel Inc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.13.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $4.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $391.85. The stock had a trading volume of 18,959,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,203,173. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $385.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.53. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.