Five Oceans Advisors Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Five Oceans Advisors lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,471 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.6% of Five Oceans Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Five Oceans Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $390.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $406.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $419.25. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (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 firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. 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. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.