Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 146,778 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 6,581 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.6% of Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $61,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,204,664,000 after purchasing an additional 49,735 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the third quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 9,723 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,184,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.0% during the third quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,219 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $390.58 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $376.91 and a 52 week high of $468.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $406.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.25.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

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.