Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 164,300 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 18,010 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 6.4% of Soltis Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $69,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. 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 report on Monday, December 23rd. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $505.41.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $7.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $388.45. 23,826,330 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,250,515. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $391.89 and a 200 day moving average of $414.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.