Foster Group Inc. Has $4.50 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Foster Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,667 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,457 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in 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 in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,204,664,000 after buying an additional 49,735 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,514,189 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $651,556,000 after purchasing an additional 97,893 shares during the period. Finally, waypoint wealth counsel lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.6% in the third quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 15,894 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,839,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $386.84 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $409.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $419.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $376.91 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

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.