Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Birinyi Associates Inc.'s 6th Largest Position

Birinyi Associates Inc. trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,500 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,501 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.6% of Birinyi Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Birinyi Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $425.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $384.18 and a 200 day moving average of $411.01. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's 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.

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