Stanich Group LLC Invests $962,000 in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stanich Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,282 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $962,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.7% of Stanich Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in Microsoft by 46.1% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 43,900.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037,857 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $367.78. The company had a trading volume of 20,940,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,246,383. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $388.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $412.78. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wedbush lowered their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $499.97.

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.