Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Absher Wealth Management LLC's Largest Position

Absher Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 88,813 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.9% of Absher Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Absher Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 46.1% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $9.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $373.11. The company had a trading volume of 30,133,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,642,729. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $402.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $418.11. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $367.24 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.