Bluesphere Advisors LLC Sells 310 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bluesphere Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,369 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.0% of Bluesphere Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Bluesphere Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,638,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 13,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,678,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 54,009 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $22,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,299 shares in the last quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 146,778 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $61,867,000 after buying an additional 6,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,888 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,501,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $390.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $406.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $419.25. 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 earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 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.