Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,103,168 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 11,800 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.0% of Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $464,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Scotiabank started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $395.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $407.93 and its 200 day moving average is $419.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. 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.