Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC Has $1.96 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,639 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 0.4% of Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,044 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,920,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,565 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,404,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,528 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 147,453 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $62,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 85,078 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,860,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.6 %

Microsoft stock opened at $388.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $412.43 and its 200-day moving average is $420.55. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.