Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,698 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 652 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.6% of Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third 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 buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $436.17 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $385.66 and a 200 day moving average of $411.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.12, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.