Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Grows Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,228 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased 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 valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price objective (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $497.63.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.1 %

MSFT stock opened at $366.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $386.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.95. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Microsoft 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.