Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Posted by MarketBeat News on Aug 4th, 2022

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,826 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 918 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.4% of GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shore Point Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Tobam grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 15,400.0% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 155 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth $68,000. Castle Financial & Retirement Planning Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $80,000. Finally, Evolution Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $84,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.99% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $282.47 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $262.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $241.51 and a fifty-two week high of $349.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The software giant reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($0.06). Microsoft had a return on equity of 43.31% and a net margin of 36.69%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 18th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 17th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 19th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $372.00 to $354.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $333.88.

About Microsoft

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Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Its Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, as well as related Client Access Licenses (CAL); Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.