Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Lifted by K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,051 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,410 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.1% of K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 1,086,121 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $457,800,000 after purchasing an additional 8,440 shares in the last quarter. Apriem Advisors lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Apriem Advisors now owns 40,715 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,162,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Lineweaver Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,178 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,776,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 40,630 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,126,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. Finally, Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. now owns 2,737 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $435.28 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $384.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $411.07. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week 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 capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.