Monument Capital Management Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Monument Capital Management lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,421 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,488 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.7% of Monument Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Monument Capital Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,775 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 116,404 shares of the software giant's stock worth $49,064,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,429 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,817,000 after buying an additional 2,851 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 62,338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $26,276,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stanich Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $962,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $499.97.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $367.78. 20,940,221 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,246,383. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $388.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $412.78. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 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.