Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Lowers Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 35.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,948 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,264 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.8% of Woodward Diversified Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 96,793 shares of the software giant's stock worth $40,798,000 after buying an additional 1,562 shares in the last quarter. Seamount Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Seamount Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,765 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,430,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 11,506 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,850,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. Capital Management Associates Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc now owns 8,276 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 37,127 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,649,000 after acquiring an additional 853 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.00.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $5.26 on Wednesday, reaching $359.82. 4,141,964 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,748,721. The company has a 50-day moving average of $393.94 and a 200 day moving average of $415.52. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 results 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 period last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 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.