Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Willis Investment Counsel’s 4th Largest Position

Willis Investment Counsel raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,288 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,983 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of Willis Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $46,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,204,664,000 after acquiring an additional 49,735 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 180.8% in the third quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,414 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 3,486 shares during the period. Finally, Walker Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the third quarter. Walker Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,347 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,592,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Trading Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $378.80 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $376.91 and a 52 week 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 market cap of $2.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $405.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.97.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.