56,394 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Acquired by Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC

Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 56,394 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $23,770,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 16.7% of Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

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Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $6.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $382.19. 19,430,156 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,577,346. The company has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $404.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $418.77. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $367.24 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $508.86.

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.