Watershed Private Wealth LLC Cuts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Watershed Private Wealth LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,828 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 561 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Watershed Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Watershed Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $386.84 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $409.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $419.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.