Winebrenner Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Winebrenner Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,870 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,631,000. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Winebrenner Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,007,285,000 after purchasing an additional 636,713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $395.26. The company had a trading volume of 34,469,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,165,221. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $383.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $410.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.26. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $470.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.89.

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.