Stonegate Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 432,342 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,917 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.9% of Stonegate Investment Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Stonegate Investment Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $182,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth 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 grew its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.59.
Read Our Latest Report on Microsoft
Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %
NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $4.42 on Friday, reaching $391.26. 39,560,145 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,335,489. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50 day moving average is $408.82 and its 200-day moving average is $419.67. 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 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 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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