Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Trimmed by ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,860 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 10,721 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.4% of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $40,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during 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. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $494.80.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $374.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $385.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $411.70. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. 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.

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