Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Ibex Wealth Advisors’ 3rd Largest Position

Ibex Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 697.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 76,964 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,312 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.8% of Ibex Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Ibex Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BCK Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake 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 last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd 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 raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $391.26 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $376.91 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $408.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

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.