Heritage Investors Management Corp Has $127.77 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 303,135 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.1% of Heritage Investors Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $127,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,890,530,000 after purchasing an additional 49,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,749 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,334,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $435.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $384.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.77.

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.