BTC Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BTC Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,745 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,212 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.1% of BTC Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $44,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second 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 lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in 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 period. Gill Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.4% in the third quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 26,460 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,386,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $393.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $408.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $419.63. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $376.91 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Loop Capital raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.