waypoint wealth counsel Has $6.84 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

waypoint wealth counsel boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,232 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.5% of waypoint wealth counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. waypoint wealth counsel’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in 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. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,538,000. Sage Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, Ashburton Jersey Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,649,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $388.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $376.91 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $411.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $420.49.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (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 last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.