Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by POM Investment Strategies LLC

POM Investment Strategies LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,946 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 188 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 0.9% of POM Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. POM Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pachira Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 4,430 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 633,184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $266,887,000 after acquiring an additional 6,959 shares in the last quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 7,206 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,037,000 after buying an additional 982 shares during the last quarter. Panoramic Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $6,702,000. Finally, International Private Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 110.7% during the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,167,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price target (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $505.41.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $381.35 on Friday. 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 $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $392.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $414.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS 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 previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.