Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Reduced by Vantage Wealth

Vantage Wealth lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,335 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 267 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.5% of Vantage Wealth’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Vantage Wealth’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Grange Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,243,000. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,044 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,920,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,565 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,404,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,528 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,339,000 after buying an additional 3,933 shares during the period. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 147,453 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $62,152,000 after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.43.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $388.56 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $412.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $420.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $376.91 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.