WFA Asset Management Corp Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

WFA Asset Management Corp decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 824 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,314,000. Finally, Evernest Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 389.2% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $390.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $406.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $419.25. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $376.91 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. 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. Mizuho lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

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.