Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,417 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 13,862 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.4% of Principal Securities Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $63,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Quantum Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 46,392 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $19,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $2,390,000. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,171 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,237,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. bLong Financial LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,479,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,009 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,797,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Scotiabank started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $499.97.
Read Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $367.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,940,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,246,383. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $388.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $412.78. 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 fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a P/E 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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