Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Bright Financial Advisors Inc.

Bright Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,039 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Bright Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during 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. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 3.6 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $359.84 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $359.48 and a one year high of $468.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $399.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $417.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Company 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.