Vicus Capital Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Vicus Capital decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,902 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,599 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.0% of Vicus Capital's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Vicus Capital's holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,679,000 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. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $367.78. 20,940,221 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,277,339. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $389.13 and a 200 day moving average of $413.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company posted $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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued 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 payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $499.97.

Microsoft 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.