Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 774,557 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 59,228 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $326,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,290,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $388.70 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $411.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $420.49. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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%.

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.