Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lowered by Emerald Advisors LLC

Emerald Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,326 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,007,285,000 after buying an additional 636,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $374.58 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $385.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.70. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price target (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 7th. 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. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Five investment 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.80.

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.