Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s 7th Largest Position

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 43,754 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,726 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.9% of Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 702,192 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $295,974,000 after purchasing an additional 257,889 shares in the last quarter. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. now owns 1,793 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Microsoft by 697.4% during the fourth quarter. Ibex Wealth Advisors now owns 76,964 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,440,000 after purchasing an additional 67,312 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 14,026 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,912,000 after buying an additional 939 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 14,090,753 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,939,252,000 after buying an additional 401,397 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $391.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average is $408.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $419.65. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.