Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s 6th Largest Position

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,637 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,290 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.2% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its position in Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $3,314,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $387.30 on Friday. 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 one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $385.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company earned $2.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.86%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.