Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 275,511 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,105 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.1% of Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $116,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the software giant's stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 39,541 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,667,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the software giant's stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $7,472,000. Finally, Vawter Financial Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Vawter Financial Ltd. now owns 1,014 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $3.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $390.43. 10,038,393 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,247,445. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $385.28 and a 200 day moving average of $411.53.

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 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 firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current 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 issued 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 yield of 0.85%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $430.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $493.13.

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.