Scarborough Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Scarborough Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 86.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,969 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 19,602 shares during the quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $499.97.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT traded down $3.83 on Friday, hitting $367.78. 20,940,221 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,277,339. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $413.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 0.90%. 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.