Old North State Wealth Management LLC Has $3.22 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Old North State Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,620 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.8% of Old North State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Old North State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.86.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9 %

Microsoft stock opened at $375.39 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $404.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $367.24 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $2.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.