ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 8,170 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,444,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.1% of ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $240,349,000. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 566,009 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $240,440,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL grew its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 48,257 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,340,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Cowa LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,825 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $15,522,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $391.85 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $384.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.34. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price objective (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.89.

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.

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