Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Raised by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 547,159 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,282 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.2% of Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $230,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $436.17 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $385.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $411.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.12, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.