Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Buys 3,933 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,528 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.3% of Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 147,453 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $62,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 85,078 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,860,000 after buying an additional 2,022 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,804 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Aspiring Ventures LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,716,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,881,830 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,214,691,000 after buying an additional 21,991 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.6 %

Microsoft stock opened at $388.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.29, 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. 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 50 day moving average of $412.43 and a 200-day moving average of $420.55.

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 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.