Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Williams & Novak LLC

Williams & Novak LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,546 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.0% of Williams & Novak LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Williams & Novak LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 7.6% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $3,314,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 389.2% in the third quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,137,000 after acquiring an additional 42,778 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $386.84 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $409.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $419.85. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Company 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.