Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s Largest Position

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,715 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.2% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Microsoft Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $381.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $392.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $414.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results 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 in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush cut their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.41.

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.