Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Lessened by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,295 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,030 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.3% of Valley National Advisers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $378.80 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $405.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $418.97.

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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.