Apexium Financial LP Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Apexium Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,166 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,733 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.1% of Apexium Financial LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Apexium Financial LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position 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 valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0 %

MSFT stock opened at $388.70 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $411.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.49. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month 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. The company has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given 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 payout ratio is 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.