Wealthspan Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wealthspan Partners LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,508 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 786 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.5% of Wealthspan Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Wealthspan Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.41 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $375.39. 35,114,161 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,581,628. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $367.31 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $405.52 and a 200 day moving average of $419.10. 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 (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, topping 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.