BLB&B Advisors LLC Sells 705 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BLB&B Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,019 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 705 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.4% of BLB&B Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. BLB&B Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $5.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $359.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,141,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,748,721. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $393.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $415.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.00.

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.