TCW Group Inc. Acquires 75,251 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,630,345 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 75,251 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.8% of TCW Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $687,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $391.85 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $384.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $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.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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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