Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Abacus Planning Group Inc.

Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,646 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 253 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.6% of Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 target price (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.80.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $374.58 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $385.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $411.70. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. 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.