Paladin Wealth LLC Acquires 982 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Paladin Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,206 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 982 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.6% of Paladin Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Paladin Wealth LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $505.41.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $7.10 on Friday, reaching $388.45. 23,826,330 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,250,515. The company has a 50 day moving average of $391.89 and a 200 day moving average of $414.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.