Baring Financial LLC Makes New $3.36 Million Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Baring Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 7,964 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,357,000. Microsoft accounts for 3.0% of Baring Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew 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 valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,204,664,000 after purchasing an additional 49,735 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 32,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $13,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 24,002 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,328,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $391.26 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $408.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.67. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $376.91 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

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.