Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,987 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,007,285,000 after acquiring an additional 636,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $367.78 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $388.25 and a 200 day moving average of $412.73. The company has a market capitalization 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. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of 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 issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial upped 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.