Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Trimmed by Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA

Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,544 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 574 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 7.5% of Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $378.80 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $405.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $419.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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 prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.