Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 191,443 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,180 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.2% of Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $80,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,290,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.43.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $388.56 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $412.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $420.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given 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%.

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.