Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Has $44.62 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 105,099 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,081 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.5% of Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $44,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BCK Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd 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 period. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $395.16 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $407.93 and a 200-day moving average of $419.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend 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.