Advantage Trust Co Increases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Advantage Trust Co increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,736 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 0.4% of Advantage Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Advantage Trust Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.89.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

MSFT opened at $391.85 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $384.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. 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 released 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.