Southland Equity Partners LLC Buys 639 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Southland Equity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,423 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.9% of Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake in 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. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $378.77 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $420.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50, a PEG 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Microsoft Company 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.