Nelson Capital Management LLC Has $30.61 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Nelson Capital Management LLC cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 72,611 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,101 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.1% of Nelson Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Nelson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Shayne & Jacobs LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 17,263 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,277,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Kellett Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,490 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,735,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. EQ LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. EQ LLC now owns 795 shares of the software giant's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Fjell Capital LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $3,530,000. Finally, DMKC Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,015,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $9.88 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $435.28. The stock had a trading volume of 30,732,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,356,359. 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 capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $384.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.12. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's 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.