Columbus Macro LLC Acquires 11,048 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 328.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,410 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,048 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Clay Northam Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,420 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,078,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $255,000. abrdn plc grew its stake in Microsoft by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 7,652,131 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,238,344,000 after buying an additional 748,649 shares in the last quarter. Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $23,770,000. Finally, Trust Point Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 50,748 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,390,000 after buying an additional 5,794 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $378.80 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $405.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $419.10. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.