Cortland Associates Inc. MO Has $2.81 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cortland Associates Inc. MO lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,660 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.3% of Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Cortland Associates Inc. MO’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after acquiring an additional 18,544 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,314,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 389.2% during the third quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,137,000 after purchasing an additional 42,778 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $391.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $408.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $419.67. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.