Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Kestra Investment Management LLC

Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 44,195 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,571 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BCK Partners Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $359.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $387.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.30. The company has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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, April 16th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $497.63.

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.