Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,441 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.6% of Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third 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 during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $388.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $412.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $420.59.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.43.

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.