Black Diamond Financial LLC Acquires 223 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Black Diamond Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,644 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. DA Davidson raised 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. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $475.00 price target (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered 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. Five research 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.89.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $391.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $384.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.17. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.