Brightwater Advisory LLC Sells 187 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Brightwater Advisory LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,987 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 187 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.0% of Brightwater Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Brightwater Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,007,285,000 after purchasing an additional 636,713 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $435.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $384.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $411.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

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.