Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Cut by BLB&B Advisors LLC

BLB&B Advisors LLC lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,019 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 705 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.4% of BLB&B Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BCK Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC boosted 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 worth $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $359.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $359.48 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $399.08 and a 200-day moving average of $417.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $508.86.

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.