Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s 6th Largest Position

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,694 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.6% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $425.40 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $384.18 and its 200-day moving average is $411.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 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.