Parker Financial LLC Has $1.39 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Parker Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,293 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 0.7% of Parker Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Parker Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 636,713 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.1 %

Microsoft stock opened at $374.58 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $385.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $411.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.80.

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.