Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,865 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.9% of Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $404.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $424.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $423.08. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

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.