Narus Financial Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 58.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,019 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,484 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third 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 lifted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three 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, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5 %

MSFT opened at $393.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. 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 one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $408.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $419.63.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.