Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 63,498 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 590 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.3% of Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BCK Partners Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $367.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $388.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $412.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush dropped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.97.

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.