Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Buys 43 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,621 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.8% of Aurora Private Wealth Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Aurora Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC now owns 41,070 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,311,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in Microsoft by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 71,941 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $30,323,000 after purchasing an additional 4,331 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 774,557 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $326,476,000 after purchasing an additional 59,228 shares during the period. Two West Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Two West Capital Advisors LLC now owns 992 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Center For Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 15,882 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,694,000 after purchasing an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $388.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $411.64 and a 200 day moving average of $420.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.43.

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.