Root Financial Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 27.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,009 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,420 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.8% of Root Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the third 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 lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third 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 period. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Westpark Capital started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $503.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $387.81 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $391.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $414.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Microsoft 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.