Marshall Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 17,305 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $7,447,000. Microsoft makes up 4.4% of Marshall Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.89.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $391.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $384.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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