Manuka Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Manuka Financial LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,594 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000. Microsoft makes up 0.5% of Manuka Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in 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 boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $395.16 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $407.93 and a 200 day moving average of $419.53.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued 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 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.