Van ECK Associates Corp Has $427.95 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,015,295 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 26,233 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $427,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $503.86.

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Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $387.81. 19,232,192 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,242,474. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $391.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $414.41.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid 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 0.86%. 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.