Advyzon Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Advyzon Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 8,034 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,386,000. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Advyzon Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Microsoft by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,913,000 after buying an additional 2,037,857 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.89.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $4.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $391.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,959,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,169,050. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $411.34. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 26.73%.

Microsoft 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.