Strategic Advocates LLC Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Strategic Advocates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 27.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,318 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 0.9% of Strategic Advocates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Strategic Advocates LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,204,664,000 after buying an additional 49,735 shares during the last quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,175 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,087,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 26,460 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,386,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $393.08 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $408.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $419.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.