Davidson Trust Co. Increases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Davidson Trust Co. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,318 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 8.5% of Davidson Trust Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Davidson Trust Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $12.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $386.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,146,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,222,488. The business's 50 day moving average price is $385.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.70. The company has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $430.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.13.

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.