Alterna Wealth Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alterna Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,661 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.3% of Alterna Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Alterna Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th 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. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $378.80 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $405.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $418.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $376.91 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

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, 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 company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.