Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Cut by Lewis Asset Management LLC

Lewis Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,834 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,035 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.2% of Lewis Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Lewis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd 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 period. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,314,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 389.2% during the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 53,770 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,137,000 after purchasing an additional 42,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $391.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $376.91 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $408.82 and a 200-day moving average of $419.74. The company has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.