Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC Has $2.81 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,658 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.1% of Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd 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. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third 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 during the period. Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $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 valued at $23,137,000 after buying an additional 42,778 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $391.26 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $408.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $419.74. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft 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.