Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,408 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 567 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.5% of Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $391.26 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $408.82 and a 200 day moving average of $419.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 period last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

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.