Stewardship Advisors LLC Acquires 434 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stewardship Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,435 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Stewardship Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Grange Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,243,000. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,044 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,920,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,565 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,404,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,528 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 147,453 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $62,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $388.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $412.43 and a 200-day moving average of $420.55. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $376.91 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.43.

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.