Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Lifted by Marest Capital LLC

Marest Capital LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,124 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.5% of Marest Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Marest Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,204,664,000 after acquiring an additional 49,735 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 14,514 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,245,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tealwood Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,033 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,596,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $391.26 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $408.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $419.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS 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 period last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

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.