Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Increased by Stephens Consulting LLC

Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,234 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 178 shares during the quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Robbins Farley boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 13,743 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 21,625 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 14,318 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,035,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. Rockline Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,806 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,101,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the period. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 21,378 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,011,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $375.39 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $367.24 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $404.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $418.77.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital raised 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. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $508.86.

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.