Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by New Republic Capital LLC

New Republic Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,108 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.9% of New Republic Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. New Republic Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $505.41.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.3 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $381.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $392.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $414.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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 last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio 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.