NatWest Group plc Has $13.30 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

NatWest Group plc lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,557 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,778 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.9% of NatWest Group plc's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. NatWest Group plc's holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $5.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $359.82. 4,141,964 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,748,721. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $393.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $415.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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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 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.00.

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.