Verity Asset Management Inc. Has $3.55 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Verity Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 48.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,425 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 8,029 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.9% of Verity Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $378.80 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $405.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $419.10. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $376.91 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

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.