Valley National Advisers Inc. Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Valley National Advisers Inc. reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,295 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,030 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.3% of Valley National Advisers Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Valley National Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $7.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $371.17. The stock had a trading volume of 12,866,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,496,477. 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 12 month low of $367.31 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $405.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $508.86.

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.