Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Carnegie Investment Counsel’s 2nd Largest Position

Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 284,454 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,113 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.4% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $119,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,070,340 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5 %

Microsoft stock opened at $399.73 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $422.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $423.01. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

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.