Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. Sells 572 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,628 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 572 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.6% of Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during 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 in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company 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 objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $391.26 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $408.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $419.65. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.