Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Cut by Emerald Advisors LLC

Emerald Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,326 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.7% of Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.80.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $374.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $385.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.70.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.