Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Boosted by World Equity Group Inc.

World Equity Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 96.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,594 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 30,253 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 5.6% of World Equity Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Delta Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,347,000. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 47,587 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,058,000 after purchasing an additional 2,794 shares during the period. Summit Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 16,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,109,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 15,720 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,626,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, Stevens Capital Partners grew its stake in Microsoft by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Partners now owns 3,568 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays cut their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $430.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.89.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2 %

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. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $384.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.