Financial Advocates Investment Management Lowers Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Advocates Investment Management reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,422 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,874 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.8% of Financial Advocates Investment Management's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Financial Advocates Investment Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $49,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $508.00.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $1.98 during trading on Monday, hitting $357.86. 50,017,125 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,896,489. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.93 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $397.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $416.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

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, 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 last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

About Microsoft

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.