Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Lessened by Liberty Capital Management Inc.

Liberty Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,266 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 742 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.4% of Liberty Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Liberty Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $505.41.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $7.10 on Friday, hitting $388.45. 23,826,330 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,240,524. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $391.89 and its 200 day moving average is $414.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.