Wealth Alliance decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,372 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,415 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.0% of Wealth Alliance's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Wealth Alliance's holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during 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 increased its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th 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 shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $4.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $391.85. The company had a trading volume of 18,959,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,203,147. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a PEG 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. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $384.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.41.
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 earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.13.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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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