Affiance Financial LLC Sells 97 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Affiance Financial LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,144 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.2% of Affiance Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Affiance Financial LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th 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 Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $388.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $420.59. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.