Motive Wealth Advisors Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Motive Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,428 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.7% of Motive Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Motive Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Beck Bode LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.3% in the second quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 39,951 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,856,000 after purchasing an additional 10,847 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 173.1% in the second quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 1,480 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the period. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1,963.1% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 504,212 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $225,358,000 after buying an additional 479,772 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $383.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $376.91 and a twelve month 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $413.92 and a 200 day moving average of $421.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.54.

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.