Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,897 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 274 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.1% of Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $860,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037,857 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2 %

MSFT stock opened at $391.16 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $384.46 and a 200 day moving average of $411.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.89.

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.