Highland Financial Advisors LLC Has $528,000 Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Highland Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 60.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,253 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Highland Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $367.78 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $389.13 and its 200 day moving average is $413.21. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.97.

About Microsoft

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.