Prospect Financial Services LLC Buys 91 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prospect Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,486 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.2% of Prospect Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Prospect Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $387.82 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $376.91 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $410.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $420.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Microsoft 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.